America's Program
by Mimi Madrox
Summary: The Program made it all the way to the U.S., where the government selects a random school in a random state to submit 15 random boys and 15 random girls to compete in the Program, where they will fight for their lives. There's only one rule: Kill or be killed.
1. Welcome to the Program!

**Okay, so this is my first fanfic! You can review if you want.**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale or the idea of it. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

They were on the bus. Laughing, snapping pictures, playing games, and singing songs.

Derek Sandler (Male Student No. 1) grinned and teased Elena Milney (Female Student No. 3), "I bet you can't draw _me_."

Elena smirked, pulled out her sketchbook, and replied, "Challenge accepted."

Derek grinned wider and struck a silly pose. Elena laughed. "Come on, be serious."

"I am serious." Derek replied around his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

Elena sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alrighty then." She pulled out her pencil and began drawing, occassionally glancing back up at Derek, then back at the sketchbook.

Nicholas Carsten stood up half way and peered over Elena's shoulder from the seat behind. He laughed at Derek. "She's right on, man. You're gonna lose the bet."

Derek struggled to keep his pose. "You're lying, Nick. There's no way she's _that _good." But he had no doubt about it.

Nicholas grinned his goofy grin and said, "No, you're right. She's _better_."

Derek internally chuckled. He had no doubt about it.

* * *

Melissa Harley (Female Student No. 6) was a scarred girl. She was the prettiest girl in school with a playful and funny personality.

Now, how was she scarred? Her mother was a high school drop-out, who married an abuser. Her real father left before she was born, only to return when she was six and beg for her forgiveness and understanding. He would return every year, during her birthday, and pepper her with gifts and everything she wanted that year, asking over and over if she'd only listen to him and try to understand and forgive. She refused the gifts, though he still let her keep them, and she never listened, never tried to understand.

Why didn't she? Because, as she says, _He could have saved me..._

When Melissa jerked awake, she realized she was no longer on the bus. She was sitting in a desk. Her best friend, Teresa Rommer (Female Student No. 7), is hunched forward, asleep in the desk next to her.

Melissa hesitated, then reached over and lightly shook Teresa's shoulder. "Teresa? Hey?" She kept her voice soft.

Teresa stirred, mumbling something incomprehensible. She raised her head slowly and turned, squinting at Melissa. "What? Huh? Did I fall asleep?"

Melissa nodded, taking a look around. "I think we all did."

Teresa yawned. "Eh? Hey?" She blinked, finally returning to reality. She looked around the classroom. "Where are we?"

Melissa frowned, the question echoing through her thoughts. Her answer scared her. "I don't know."

As they spoke and tried to gather their thoughts, their classmates around them started to stir, also waking up.

Shouts of alarm were heard as they realized they were no longer on the bus and, instead, in a strange and dark classroom.

"Hey!" Someone, Daniel Grawson (Male Student No. 3), called out. "Where the hell are we?" For some reason, he sounded enraged.

Melissa turned to frown at the school's player. Daniel is one of the hottest boys in school, with his blonde hair and big, baby blue eyes. He used his looks and his smooth, sweet talk, however, to get girls. And then, when he was done, he tossed them away like they were less than nothing.

He disgusted Melissa thoroughly.

Someone started to cry, sounding like a frightened little girl. Melissa searched for the source until her eyes fell on Lexa Abernathy, one of the shyest girls in school. The frightened bunny buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

It was then that the lights clicked on and a strange man walked in, his walk carefree and calm. He was whistling cheerfully. He stopped behind the desk at the front of the room and smiled. "Hello, everyone. Glad to see you're awake. Welcome to the Program."

**30 students remaining.**

* * *

**Okay, so, I hope you liked it! If you did, then more is soon to come! Please leave a review if you feel something should be changed or edited, or if you just liked it that much. ^_^ Hehe, thank you!**


	2. Instructions

**Alright, here's chapter 2! I write pretty fast, so more and more chapters will be coming...very soon! I hope you like this! ^_^ Again, review if you feel like something is missing or anything needs to be changed. I will highly appreciate your opinions! Thank you!**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Lexa's sobs turned to wails. Melissa's already pretty, pale face paled even more. Daniel's fist came down on his desk. He was trembling, though with anger or fear, no one could tell. "This is _bullshit_!"

The man at the front gave Daniel an exasperated look. "Could you watch your language, young man? There are young ladies in the room."

"I don't give a shit!" Daniel shouted. His face was turning red.

"Pr-Program?" Teresa stuttered, her eyes wide. "Why...? Why us?"

"This month, we decided to actually _choose _the students." The man explained.

"So it wasn't random..." Melissa interrupted quietly.

The man grinned at her. "Nope. We chose you. Meaning, as Miss Harley has already observed, it was not a random selection."

"But why us?" Teresa asked.

The man shrugged. "I had nothing to do with the choosing. I'm only supposed to be your teacher."

Teresa fidgeted in her seat, looking nervous and confused. Melissa reached over and squeezed her shoulder, whispering, "It's okay."

"Now," The man's voice boomed unexpectedly, causing the students to jump in their seats. "Allow me to introduce myself, then I'll explain the situation. I am Michael Worden. Mr. Worden, to you." The students were silent. "Now, about the situation. We're in an abadoned city. This is where you will fight to the death." He held up a single finger and wiggled it. "Only one of you may live."

Lexa had fallen silent, tears falling rapidly and silently down her cheeks.

Mr. Worden went on. "As each of you leave the room, by number of course, you'll be given a bag. It contains food and water, a compass and a map, and a weapon." His smile was somewhat wicked. His eyes gleamed. "The weapon can be useful...or not."

The students continued to listen quietly. Their teacher continued, "After everyone is out, you have twenty minutes to get as far from the school as possible, for the school building will become forbidden. Enter and the collars around your necks will explode."

Everyone's hands shot up to their necks and they all gasped in shock. Lexa began to wail again. Mr. Worden gave her a tired, warning look, shutting her up almost immediately. She whimpered one last time, quietly, and pouted.

"I will make announcements at 6 and 12, am and pm. Four times a day." He held up four fingers. "I will confirm deaths and warn you of the forbidden buildings. If you are in one, I suggest you get out as soon as possible. Otherwise, the collar will explode."

"Excuse me," Karolina Amadeo (Female Student No. 1) raised her hand.

"Yes?" The teacher turned his strange, black eyes on her.

Karoline lowered her hand, a look of indifference and pure boredom on her face. "Are we almost done here?"

Mr. Worden smiled, amused at Karolina's impatience. Her classmates stared at her in shock and horror. "Ah, yes, just wait a little bit longer, will you, Miss Amadeo?"

Karolina gave a huff of annoyance.

"There are no rules," The teacher went on. "Well, maybe one. Kill or be killed. Other than that, no rules apply. You are free to do as you wish." He snapped his fingers and three men dressed heavily in camoflauge walked in, strolling a tall cart of heavy-looking bags with them.

"Alright," Said Mr. Worden. "Let's start with boy #1: Derek Sandler."

**30 students remaining.**


	3. Betrayed

**Alright, so here's another chapter! Review if you feel like and I'll post more chapters as soon as possible! Thank you!**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

All thirty students were called up, given a bag, and hurried out of the school.

When Derek stepped outside, he stopped to briefly survey the area. A whole city loomed above him. It was dark outside, so it was difficult to see, but he wasn't bothered by it. He enjoyed the night quite a bit.

Clutching his bag, he hurried away, searching for a building that might provide good enough shelter for now. Several minutes away from the school, he came across a tall building that appeared to be a skyscraper. The windows were all dusty and some were boarded up. It was nearly impossible to see inside, especially in the dark.

But since he was the first student out, seeing into the building wasn't really necessary anyway. He stepped inside. He was cautious, on high alert. Though he was the first one out, he wasn't going to be the first to find the building.

Dropping his bag on the floor, he looked around the room. It was empty, aside from the metal folding chairs against the wall to his right and a secretary's desk a few feet ahead of him. He wondered if this was once a business. If so, what business?

Curious, he crept towards the desk and started snooping around. But there was nothing about the building or the city. Derek let out a fait sigh of disappointment.

There was a noise outside, the pounding of footsteps, like someone was running. Derek jumped, grabbed his bag, and hid under the desk, holding his breath.

He listened as the door opened and closed. Three cautious steps. Then...

"Hello?" Elena.

Derek jumped up, startling her. She screamed, whipping a knife out of her pocket.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Derek grinned, throwing his hands up, palms forward and fingers spread. "It's just me."

Elena blinked at him, then grinned, putting the throwing knife away. "Derek. I didn't know you were in here."

Derek shrugged, dropping his hands by his sides. "First safe place I found. What are you doin' here?"

"First safe place I found." Her beautiful grin widened. "I'm glad you're here. I don't really trust anyone else. But I know I can trust you."

Derek smiled, feeling his cheeks turn pink. "I know I can trust you, too. I was actually going to come find you later." He laughed. "But I guess I don't have to, now."

Something in Elena's eyes was strange. Her fingers tapped the knife in her pocket. Her smile even turned weird, kind of dark.

Derek became nervous. "So, uh... you finish my picture?" He smiled, his voice shaking slightly. Elena was staring at him with a sort of...eagerness he didn't quite understand.

"Yes." She only continued to stare at him, suddenly making no movements.

He stared back, a bad feeling balling up in his stomach. "Can I...can I see it?" He told himself to remain calm. _I trust Elena. Of course I do._

Elena reached into her bag, kind of slowly. "Sure," She said. "Just a minute..."

She gripped something tightly. There was a long pause, a long and scary silence. He watched her arm muscles tense before she whirled around, swinging her arm.

He had next to no time to react as something metallic flew at him, burying itself deep in his neck. Blood spurted from the wound and soaked the knife.

Derek fell on his back, hitting the floor hard. He became dazed. His neck stung with a pain he'd never felt, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

He'd been betrayed and killed by the girl he'd had a crush on since fifth grade. As the world started to blacken, he saw Elena's face appear above him. He felt himself disappearing.

Elena's pretty face were dripping tears and she looked regretful, but the look in her beautiful, dark blue eyes clearly said, "It had to be done."

**29 students remaining.**


	4. Those Unusual Eyes

**Okay, here's chapter 4! I hope you enjoy it! :)**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Elena Milney stood above Derek, her dead friend. She knew she'd told him she trusted him and she did.

However, this was a game and Elena was a winner. She refused to lose. Everyone was now her competition.

Even sweet, funny guys with a cute face, soft brown hair and the deepest green eyes she'd ever seen...

Those eyes were now forever closed and without the light of life. She bent over, gripped the handle, and pulled the knife out of his throat. Slick blood covered her hand.

She pulled off her light jacket and wiped as much blood as possible off the knife, then her hand. She dropped the jacket on Derek's still chest.

She searched around the room until she found his bag behind the desk. She grabbed it, slinging it over her shoulder next to her own. After taking one last look at the sweet guy she'd come to like a lot, she turned and walked briskly out of the building.

* * *

Meanwhile, Melissa ran hurriedly through the alley ways and across streets, trying to separate herself from the others as much as possible.

She stopped at a brick building, leaning against it and breathing hard, resting her hands on her knees and coughing. Melissa may have been a fast runner, but her asthma prevented her from running for very long.

She gulped in air, her sides beginning to hurt. She forced herself to stand straight and assess her surroundings. The brick building she was leaning against appeared to be what was left of a cafe.

Melissa adjusted the bag on her shoulder, took a deep breath, and walked into the cafe. "Hello? Is anyone here?" After surveying the area, she concluded that she was alone.

Sighing with relief and exhaustion, she collapsed in a chair at the nearest table. She set her bag on the table and started digging through it. She found two liters of water, a container of bread, cheese and crackers, a compass, a map, and a handgun. She studied the weapon, curious. She'd never seen one before, not in real life.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move outside and shoved everything back in the bag, save the handgun. She tucked the handgun into the waist of her jeans and zipped up her black jacket, which was two sizes too big, big enough to hide the gun.

She slipped her bag over her shoulder and looked around. Outside, at the moment, was unsafe, but with that huge glass window at the front, the cafe wasn't any safer. She turned and spotted a blessing.

A back door. She walked over and opened it. Ahead of her lay a stairway into complete darkness. Though darkness scared her, she didn't exactly have a choice. At least it wouldn't kill her.

Risking a quick glance over her shoulder at the window, she confirmed that she wasn't being watched and started up the stairs, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Nicholas Carsten watched her from the shadows as she disappeared up a flight of stairs, closing the door behind her.

Melissa was his one and only crush. He was obsessed with her. No...he was _in love _with her. With her silky black hair, so long and pretty. Her flawless skin, her adorable figure, her long legs, and her out-of-this-world eyes.

He loved those eyes. They were blue, with silver around the edge of the iris and gold streaks coming from around her pupils. The gold was more faint, but if you looked close enough, it was there.

Nicholas was the class clown. He could always make Melissa laugh. It wasn't very hard to do, she found a lot of things funny. But it _was_ hard to make her laugh almost non-stop. But he managed to do it pretty often. He managed to make her laugh so hard, that, sometimes, she'd start to cry a little.

Then she would always, jokingly, scold him for making her ruin her make up (which he didn't think she needed) and giggle all the way to the bathroom to fix it.

Nicholas considered walking over the cafe, through the door she'd disappeared and up the stairs. But he decided against it. He didn't want to scare her. Instead, he'd just find a place nearby and watch her, protecting her from afar.

He looked around the area and saw a small, brick house nearby. He walked over and slipped inside, finding that there was a lock inside. He locked the door behind him.

The house was still furnished with a cracked T.V, a three-cushion couch, and a comfortable-looking chair with a lever. The floor was wooden and dusty, an oval-shaped and dirty rug in the middle.

Nicholas tossed his bag on the couch and collapsed into the chair. He pulled the lever and a foot rest sprang up. He relaxed back into the chair with a sigh, easily falling asleep.

**29 students remaining.**


	5. Temper

**Okay, here's chapter 5! Sorry it took awhile. More chapters to come! Thank you!**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Michael Worden sat back in his chair and studied the computer screens. The kids were doing well in finding shelter and hiding from each other. In the killing department, however… they weren't off to a good start. Only Elena Milney had killed so far and just one person.

He knew little about Derek Sandler. All he could really remember hearing about the boy was that everyone he knew looked up to him like a leader.

Now their leader is dead.

Mr. Worden took an odd comfort from that.

* * *

Teresa was running as fast as she could. Her lungs were burning and she was starting to sweat, but she refused to stop. She wanted to call out for Melissa, but that would just draw unwanted attention. It could get her killed.

So she stayed silent, running as fast as she could in random directions. She came to a stop in the middle of a street. She doubled over, hands on her knees, gasping for air.

"Teresa!" A voice hissed. It came from above.

Teresa, startled, froze for a moment. She listened. "Teresa!" The voice hissed again. _Why is that so familiar…?_

Teresa looked up. A single window, high above a café entrance, was hidden in the brick wall of the building she'd stopped in front of. A face peered down at her, pale skin glowing in the moonlight…

Teresa brightened. _Melissa! _She was starting for the café's entrance when she heard a _thump _at the same time she felt something pierce her back. There was a gasp from above as she fell, face first, in the street. There was a stinging pain in her back.

Teresa reached back and pulled an arrow from her back. Tossing it aside, she rolled over with a groan and looked at the sky above her. The pale face sticking out of the window was gone.

Teresa's attacker was approaching-she could hear his or her footsteps. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, similar to the gunshots she'd heard on T.V, but louder and closer. It hurt her ears and she winced. Then someone, a male, spitting out a curse.

Melissa's face then appeared in Teresa's vision. Her pretty eyes were misty with tears. Teresa envied Melissa for those eyes. They caught everyone's attention.

Teresa smiled weakly and parted her lips to tell Melissa that it was okay. She was fine. _That's right… _Teresa thought. _I'm fine… _But before she could get the words out, she felt her life escape her grasp.

* * *

Melissa held Teresa's head in her lap. She sniveled and wept. She knew mascara had to be streaking her cheeks, but she didn't care. She couldn't care! Not when her best friend, her unbiological sister, with pretty caramel skin and perfect, clean golden-brown hair, was lying dead in her lap.

"This is a game." An emotionless voice stated. "We are to survive."

Slowly, Melissa looked up at Kevin Kaufmen (Male Student No. 6) the anti-social, redhead boy whose sister was always a total bitch.

He watched her with eyes full of pity. "If you don't play the game, you're not going to win." Then he snickered. "Not like you would win anyway."

Melissa had shot at him, but missed by a few inches. She mentally cursed herself, biting her lower lip.

Kevin looked over and nudged Teresa's body with his foot. Melissa's eyes shot to that foot. How dare he? Just poke Teresa's body like that?

An arrow lay a couple feet away. Melissa had seen Teresa weakly toss it to the side after pulling it from her back. Melissa noticed the arrow matched the other arrows in Kevin's quiver and he was clutching a bow in his right hand. "A shame," Kevin said. "If she'd been more alert and, well, less air-headed…"

"_Shut up!_" Melissa shrieked. Kevin merely raised an eyebrow at her, unaffected by her sudden outburst.

"I've heard about you," He said quietly. Melissa could feel her anger rising to a dangerous level. She moved Teresa's head gently off her lap. "Rumor has it that you're anorexic. You refuse to eat very much because you're afraid of losing that figure of yours, huh?" The corner of his mouth turned up slightly and there was a mean gleam in his eyes. "And you're schizophrenic. You talk to people that aren't there, right?"

Melissa hugged herself and started to rock lightly back and forth. She was shivering violently. Her temper was flaring. Her volcano was building up its lava, preparing to explode. _This isn't good…_

She was known for being short-tempered and that her temper was bad. Her temper rarely-_rarely-_reached a dangerous point. In fact, people at school often wondered if it was just a rumor. If people were just lying because they were jealous and wanted others to be scared of her. After all, Melissa was practically sweet to everybody.

"They say you see 'angels'. That's why you're schizophrenic, because, angels or not, only you can see them." Kevin looked highly amused. He could tell he was getting under her skin. But he had no idea how bad it was to do that. "Do they tell you secrets about Heaven? God? What's it like? Does it exist? Do they tell you tricks for getting in?"

_That's it. He is __**not **__bringing them into this! _Melissa's entire body felt hot. Her blood was boiling, her skin steaming… She snapped.

In a quick motion, she whipped out the handgun and fired. A bullet grazed his neck. Disappointed, she shot two more times, aiming carefully. One hit his stomach and the other hit his left shoulder.

Kevin let out a cry of surprise, and pain, falling on to the ground. Melissa stood and walked over. She tucked the handgun away and slammed her foot against Kevin's stomach wound. He screamed.

"No one," She said, voice dark and slightly insane. "No one…messes with my friends." Again, her foot came down hard on his stomach wound. And again, he screamed.

Kevin clawed at her ankle, trying to scratch her hard enough to get her to flinch and move her foot off him. She smirked, removed her foot from his stomach and walked up, standing beside his head. She slammed her foot against his shoulder wound. He screamed, almost choking. A little blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.

Melissa continued moving from his stomach to his shoulder, slamming her foot on his wounds, making sure he died in a world of pain. When he was gone, she took his weapon and went into the café to grab her bag and flee.

* * *

Natalie Kaufmen (Female Student No. 8) heard the gunshots and adjusted her bag on her shoulder, heading towards the scene.

She hid and watched as Melissa Harley tortured her brother into a slow death. He eventually died from the wounds she most likely inflicted. She must've had the gun.

Natalie could tell Melissa was going to be a challenge, so she decided to take care of her later. It's more fun to save the hard parts for last.

With that, she left the scene, ducking into the shadows to search for a place to stay during the night.

She'd get revenge for her brother. Oh, yes. She'd get it…

**27 students remaining.**


	6. The School Gamer

**Okay, here's chapter 6! Hope you like it! :)**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Brandy Boyette (Male Student No. 5) walked calmly through the streets, carrying his bag over his shoulder and whistling.

Brandy was cursed with a name that was more for a girl, though his family insisted it was unisex. No one made fun of his name, however, because he was an excellent fighter. The girls made a secret fanclub dedicated to him.

He was great with his hands, playing and mastering so many video games giving him nimble, delicate fingers. That was one of the only reasons girls even talked to him. Whenever they went up to him, he knew what to expect. He knew what they wanted.

He was indifferent about it. He liked it, yes, you'd have to be crazy not to. But afterwards, the girls would get dressed, thank him for a good time, and sneak out of his house. Which, really, was unnecessary because his parents were almost never home.

And Brandy? He was okay with it. After they left, he'd eat some breakfast and go back to his video games without a care. He'd considered dating a few times, but girls didn't seem to want more from him than sex. Which was fine, he wasn't complaining, but he sometimes found himself wishing for more.

Brandy paused and sat against a building, in an alley. He rested his bag on his knees and opened it up. His weapon, of all things they could have given him, was a stick. A stick! He cursed at the thing, shoving it back in his bag.

He rested his head back against the brick wall and closed his eyes. His crush, the one and only girl he'd ever want, was Jacqueline Ole (Female Student No. 4), the quiet girl who often came off as cold and anti-social. But he could tell, from all the times he'd just watched her, that she was only shy and actually very sweet.

Her shoulder-length black hair and deep black eyes gave her a slightly darker look, adding to the "cold and anti-social" rumor, but her eyes were actually warm and looked at everybody with kindness.

Well, everybody but him. She, upon hearing his reputation, often gave him disappointed, and disgusted, looks. He'd tried to talk to her once and she responded by smiling sweetly and kneeing him in the groin. He loved her even more after that.

He laughed at that memory, lost in it for just a moment. He heard someone kick a pebble and his eyes snapped open, scanning the area. He became very alert.

_Damn! That girl almost got me killed and she's not even here!_

He paused, slowly smirking. _Man, I love her. _He stood up and, strapping his bag over his shoulder, turned and started walking in the right direction, the opposite direction he'd heard the noise from.

A throwing knife barely missed his ear. _And so it begins._

* * *

After watching Melissa torture, and kill, Kevin Kaufmen, Elena moved deeper into the city. She considered following Melissa, maybe even challenging her, but decided against it. Melissa looked as if her temper was still hot. Even if caught by surprise, in the state she was in, Melissa would still be able to kill Elena with ease. Elena would have to wait for that fight.

Until then, she searched for the nearest opponent, who happened to be none other than the girls at school's sexy toy, Brandy Boyette.

He was sitting back against a brick building, in an alley, appearing to be asleep. It was an easy kill. However, he suddenly snapped to attention the second Elena kicked a pebble, just to test.

She watched him stand and turn his back in her direction, walking away. She threw a knife, missing him. She mentally kicked herself.

Brandy paused, slowly turning on his heel. His eyes fell on her. Elena clenched her fists and stared him down. She _would not _lose. Not to the school sex-toy.

Brandy didn't look the least bit interested in her. His expression was blank, if not bored. He seemed indifferent to the situation he'd gotten himself into. If he'd been more alert, he might have heard her and been able to avoid her. She'd been running loudly on purpose, trying to draw attention so she'd lure in more opponents.

"What weapon do you have?" Elena called. Brandy reached into his bag and held up a stick. Elena held back a laugh. _This'll be easier than I thought._

Suddenly, a gun fired from above and hit Elena in the big toe on her left foot. She screeched and fell backwards, clutching her ankle. Blood soaked the inside of her shoe and the pain was incredible.

Brandy calmly walked over and took her pouch of throwing knives, counting them before turning and walking down the alley. He picked up the knife she'd thrown at him as he turned the corner and disappeared.

* * *

Ophelia Angus lowered her sniper rifle and watched Elena shriek and writhe in pain. Then she turned her crystal blue eyes to Brandy and smirked.

The hotty would have to owe her later, and she knew exactly what she was planning to ask him for. For now, she'd just have to follow him and make sure no one else tried to go after him. _You should really be more careful, Brandy. _Ophelia thought. _What were you thinking about?_

Tucking that question away for later, she gathered her stuff and hopped from one roof to the next, following every step he took from above.

**27 students remaining.**


	7. The Ice Queen

**Okay, here's chapter 7! Honestly, this was kind of fun to write. This was kind of fun for me to write. I love Karolina's group. They're kind of funny to me, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Karolina Amadeo (Female Student No. 1) had been walking around the city with her two best friends since waiting around for them near the school.

Her sadistic, petite friend with platinum blonde hair and darkish blue eyes (with a hint of green) was on her right. This was Jessica Oxford (Female Student No. 10), whom she'd known since preschool.

On Karolina's left was Ella Kidman (Female Student No. 13), Karolina's best friend since their Moms first scheduled a play date for them when they were two. Ella was cold, beautiful and graceful. Karolina liked to call her the "Ice Queen". Her black hair and blue-black eyes helped her live up to that nickname.

And, finally, walking behind Karolina was Felicity Spaulding (Female Student No. 14) whom the three other girls had met in middle school. She'd been an outcast, whom they actually made fun of for awhile.

But, one night, when Ella got attacked and almost gang-raped, Felicity scared them all off using just her pocketknife. Ella convinced Karolina to let Felicity join them.

The brunette, grateful for their acceptance, allowed them to buy her contacts to replace her glasses, makeup, and add blonde highlights to her hair.

The four had been inseparable ever since. When the girls found an apartment building, they snuck inside and found an empty apartment on the second floor. It was furnished like someone still lived there, but it was obviously still empty.

Karolina dropped her bag on the small kitchen table and started digging through it. She pulled out a small bottle the size of her pinky finger, but about as wide as her thumb. "What the hell is this?"

Jessica took it, read the label, and handed it back. "A bottle of poison."

"What the hell kind of weapon is that!" Karolina screeched in anger, throwing the bottle back into her bag. She crossed her arms and pouted.

"It would be a good one if you were planning to force it down someone's throat." Ella joked darkly.

Karolina smirked at her and shook her head. Felicity pulled out a cracker and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. Karolina sighed. "What weapons did you girls get?"

Jessica pulled a sickle out of her bag and rolled her eyes. "Wow, really."

"It's not that bad." Karolina cocked an eyebrow. Jessica shrugged and put the weapon away.

Ella reached into her own bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars. "What the fuck?" Felicity almost chocked on the water she was drinking. Some of it spilled down the corner of her mouth. Jessica and Karolina exchanged a glance before starting to laugh in unison.

"I can't use this!" Ella's face turned red and her grip on the binoculars turned her knuckles white.

"I don't know about that, maybe you can knock someone out." Jessica managed to say before laughing again.

Ella glared at her, then turned on Felicity, pointing a finger at her. "What did you get, then?"

Felicity, startled by Ella's anger, prayed for a terrible weapon as she reached into her bag and pulled out…a fork?

Upon seeing this, Jessica and Karolina's faces went totally blank. Then they were laughing like hyenas on crack. Ella only relaxed slightly, mumbling, "It's still better than binoculars…"

Suddenly, they heard a sound beneath them and froze. Karolina hissed at them to grab their bags and hide somewhere in the apartment.

They blew out the candles (they found these under the sink, using their flashlights), shrouding the place in darkness, and then each girl packed their bags up and quietly, but quickly, hurried deeper into the apartment.

Karolina clutched her bottle of poison, hiding behind the couch. Jessica hopped into the shower and closed the curtain. Ella hurried into the bedroom at the end of the hall and slid silently under the bed. Felicity ran into the second bedroom and hid in the closet, shutting the door with a quiet _click_.

The apartment fell silent. For several minutes, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the front door opened.

* * *

Adrian Lawrence (Male Student No. 15) had been sitting back in a kitchen chair, feet propped up on the table, when he heard it. Someone yelling in the apartment above him, and someone else laughing.

He pulled the cigarette from his lips and listened. It sounded like girls. Just a bunch of girls. There was a pause, then even more laughing. Adrian sighed and stood up, putting out his cigarette on the table. He turned to grab his bag and knocked over the chair he'd been sitting in. The noise above him immediately stopped.

Adrian slowly pulled the dagger from his bag and slipped out of the room. Taking cautious, slow steps, he walked upstairs and stood in front of a door. He was sure the noise had come from this room…

He reached out with his left hand and, gripping the dagger in his right, opened the door and took one, careful step into the dark room.

There was no sign of anyone in the room, but he could smell the faint scent of smoke, like someone had been burning a candle or a match.

Adrian kept the door open behind him as he walked slowly into the room. It was silent and dark. He pulled his flashlight from his belt and clicked it on, moving the beam around the room.

There was no sign of anyone, like he'd noticed just moments before. It didn't look like anyone had been here just a few minutes ago. He made his way towards the table, where the candles sat.

With his back in her direction, Karolina sprang up from behind the couch and ran at Adrian. He whirled around just as she pounced on him, crashing into the table and breaking it in half.

Adrian stabbed his dagger into her side and kicked her off. He pulled his dagger out and stood up, staring at her in mild surprise and annoyance.

Jessica then ran into the room, screaming Karolina's name. When she saw Adrian, she gripped her sickle and ran at him, preparing to swing.

He slashed her across the chest, then stabbed her in the stomach and kicked her down on top of Karolina, who clutched her side and moaned. Blood spurted from Jessica's stomach wound, droplets of it landing on the handle and blade of her weapon. Blood covered Adrian's right hand and the blade of his dagger. He simply wiped it off on his jeans.

He considered taking Jessica's sickle, but decided against it, and Karolina didn't appear to have a weapon. He snorted. She'd just gone after him with her fists? How stupid.

He studied them for a moment before turning and calmly leaving the room.

* * *

When he was gone, Ella and Felicity hurried out of their hiding spots and turned on their flashlights. They walked into the living room.

Felicity gasped, swallowing down tears and biting back a scream. Her pale blue eyes were as wide as an owl's. Ella bit back a snarl of anger and walked over to the two girls on the floor.

Jessica was definitely dead. Karolina would need something to stop the bleeding in her side or she would be dead soon.

Ella ripped off Karolina's shirt and then peeled off her own shirt, which was black with long sleeves. She balled it up and pressed it against Karolina's wound, tying the sleeves around Karolina's waist tightly.

Now in a black tank top and jeans, Ella stood up and turned to Felicity. She spoke in a quiet, authoritative voice, "Help me move her to the couch."

Felicity nodded quickly. First, Ella moved Jessica respectfully off of Karolina, then she grabbed Karolina under the arms and lifted her. Felicity grabbed her ankles and did the same. Together, the two carried Karolina to the couch, where they lay her down gently.

Ella exhaled heavily and turned, walking over to Jessica's body. She pried the sickle from the dead girl's fingers. It was sticky with her blood. "Stay here." Ella told Felicity as she headed for the door.

"What?" Felicity looked up, her wide eyes filled with alarm. "Wh-where are you going?"

"Stay and protect Karolina." Ella ordered softly. "I'm going to go find the bastard that did this." With that, she left the room and headed downstairs.

**26 students remaining.**


	8. Ninja Girl and Bow Boy

**Okay, here's chapter 8! Enjoy! :)**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Michael Worden chuckled as he studied the stats. They were getting better. So far, four students have died.

It was almost six o'clock in the morning. Just one more hour and he'd have to announce who died and what buildings were going to be forbidden.

Students were going to lose their shelters. And several were going to lose their lives.

* * *

Cherie Espen (Female Student No. 12) was asleep next to her brother, Owen Espen (Male Student No. 11), when the announcements came on.

The twins were sleeping in an empty building that appeared to have once been a store of some kind. Maybe a clothing store, because there were empty racks and hangers.

"Here is the list of your dead friends," Mr. Worden's voice sounded faraway, from speakers somewhere in the city. "in the order they died. Boy #1 Derek Sandler, Girl #7 Teresa Rommer, Boy #6 Kevin Kaufmen, and Girl #10 Jessica Oxford.

A piece of advice: be more quiet. Making noise is an easy way to get you killed."

Cherie and Owen took out their maps and marked the forbidden buildings and times. Then they took out their student list and crossed off their dead classmates. _That should leave 26 of us… _Cherie thought.

She turned to Owen. "This will be a forbidden building soon. You ready to leave?" Owen nodded silently.

Though they were twins, Owen's little boy looks and his innocent, sweet personality made Cherie feel like she was older. She smiled at him and ran a hand through his silky blonde hair, ruffling it. "We'll be fine, Owen. I'll protect you. I promise." Owen smiled back at her, looking relieved.

"Alright, now let's get out of here before these collars blow us to bits." She gently grasped his elbow and hauled him to his feet with her. Once they were out of the building, Cherie consulted her map before deciding what to do or where to go.

"Okay," She said slowly, more to herself than to Owen. "Alright… How about we go in the direction of the school? Most of our classmates are probably deep in the city anyway. We'll most likely avoid them." She turned to Owen for his opinion. He only nodded. She sighed quietly. "Okay, then," She said, clasping her twin's hand in hers. "Let's go."

* * *

Melissa woke up in a dark room. She didn't remember much. Just that she'd gone into the café's upstairs room to get her bag and was hit with something.

She rubbed her head, which started to throb painfully. "Ow… Where am I?"

"Finally awake, huh?"

Melissa shot to a sitting position, her heart thumping so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.

A chuckle. Then, "Maybe I shouldn't have hit you so hard. My apologies."

Melissa suddenly recognized the voice. Alexander Dorral (Male Student No. 2), the dark and mysterious loner, always sitting in the corner of the classroom during their Science class.

"Wha…? Alexander. Why am I… How did you…"

"One question at a time." Melissa heard him sigh, then say, "Those gunshots, not to mention Kevin's screams, drew a lot of attention in your direction. You'd have been ambushed. So I kidnapped you." He said the last part very cheerfully, as if he'd enjoyed kidnapping her. Also, from the tone of his voice, she could tell he was grinning.

"But…why?" Melissa was still gathering her memories of only a few hours ago. Gunshots? Kevin's screams? What on earth was he talking about?

Alexander yawned. "I don't know. Because I didn't want to see you go down like that." A pause, then a low chuckle. "Not after what you did to Kaufmen. That was too awesome." He laughed outright.

"Shh!" Melissa hissed. "Someone might hear you!"

Alexander sighed, seeming unconcerned. "Relax, sweetheart. We're underground."

She didn't like the way he'd just called her "sweetheart". Melissa blinked into the pitch blackness. "Underground? What…"

"In a basement. Of a building that used to be some type of business building. But don't ask me what kind."

Melissa, dazed, asked, "What time is it?"

"Well, Worden did the announcements about twenty minutes ago. So, almost thirty after six?"

Melissa sighed. "Damn. How many died?"

Alexander paused to think. "Four. Derek Sandler, Teresa Rommer, Kevin Kaufmen, and Jessica Oxford." He answered. "In that order."

Melissa felt a pang in her heart. _That's right. Teresa… _It took her a minute, but she then remembered Kevin. _That's right. I lost control of my temper. _She groaned loudly. _Oh, shit. I…I killed someone!_

Alexander suddenly clicked on his flashlight and pointed it at her. She hissed and shielded her eyes, squinting. "What the hell?" The flashlight made her remember. "My bag! It's still at the café!"

Alexander smirked, amused, and pointed the beam in the corner behind Melissa. She turned to see her bag resting in the corner, her handgun on top of it and the bow and quiver of arrows she'd taken from Kevin propped up next to it.

Melissa turned back to Alexander. "Oh, yeah. What weapon did you get?"

Alexander sighed, looking disappointed. "Throwing stars. I don't even know how to use those."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Didn't _Naruto _teach you anything?"

Alexander laughed and shook his head, shrugging lightly. "I guess not."

Melissa then sighed and raised both eyebrows at him. "Anyway, I think-I _think_-you're supposed to throw them." She said sarcastically.

He looked at her patiently. "I'm not very good at throwing."

Melissa looked back at her bag. "Then take the bow and arrows." She said. "Give me the throwing stars. I'm sure I can do something with them."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?"

"Sure. I don't know how to use a bow and arrow anyway. I don't even remember why I took them."

Alexander smirked as he handed her the pouch of throwing stars. "A ninja chick, huh? Hot."

"Shut up." She took the pouch and handed him the bow and quiver of arrows.

Alexander slipped his arm through the quiver's strap and studied the bow as if it was a long lost friend. Then he turned back to Melissa and nodded once. "Thanks, ninja girl."

She crossed her arms. "No problem, bow boy."

Alexander grinned and then stood up, grabbed his bag, and turned to leave the basement. Melissa blinked and jumped to her feet. She turned, grabbed her flashlight from her bag and clicking it on, pointing it at his back. "You're…you're leaving?"

He didn't turn, shrugging. "I saved you. You traded me weapons. We're even." He turned his head and winked. "I have someone to look for. Try not to get killed, ninja girl." With that, he took off down a long hallway, disappearing into darkness.

Melissa blinked at the empty spot in front of her. She grabbed her bag and her gun and took off in the direction he went. When she got to the lobby of the building, Alexander was no where to be seen.

**26 students remaining.**

* * *

**I kind of had fun writing the little scene between Alexander and Melissa. I don't really know why, maybe because I just like guys like Alexander and writing about one was kind of interesting.**

**Thank you for reading! More to come soon, I promise!**


	9. An Incredible Liar

**Hello, my lovely readers! Here's chapter 9! I'm still working on chapter 10. I'm sorry to keep you waiting! I hope you enjoy chapter 9 until then!**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Natalie Kaufmen knew everything about everyone in school. She did her research.

Natalie settled back in a leather couch. She had found an old club warehouse and decided it was safe enough. She propped her feet up on the glass table in front of her.

Melissa Harley was one of those Natalie knew _a lot _about. After all, the girl attracted a lot of attention. Natalie just wanted to know why. Why was this ordinary girl so special?

She wasn't. Well, she wasn't ordinary. Melissa had a history of bad health. Two bladder infections (the second more severe than the first), schizophrenia, anorexia, and her attendance record at school suggested that she was sick half the year every year (though Natalie knew she could have just been skipping most of the time). The girl's usual symptoms, Natalie observed, suggested she was pregnant, but since she never came to school with a baby bump, Natalie figured it must've been something else.

Melissa was said to be possessive of her things, watching the people who borrow her stuff very, very carefully. She had a habit of debating things with herself, daydreaming often and reading so much that it actually _annoyed _the teachers because she wasn't paying attention to the lesson.

But more than all of that, Natalie knew Melissa had a bad temper. She recalled Melissa's torture on Kevin, Natalie's twin brother. Natalie felt a flare of anger as she recalled how Melissa tortured and humiliated her brother.

Melissa's temper was just a rumor at school. Several people denied its existence because they liked her so much. At one point, however, everyone almost suspected it was real. Almost.

At school, Melissa had a boyfriend. He was one of the cutest guys in school. He'd been the new kid the year before and, like the "sweetheart" she is, Melissa had taken him under her wing and showed him around, helping him to his classes and introducing him to the teachers and her friends. In no time, the two were a couple.

He had spiky brown hair and black eyes that were actually a really dark brown. Natalie did checking up on him, too. He lived with his dad and his dad's girlfriend. His mother lived alone, somewhere in Ohio, and his step-father was in prison.

He was tall and had "a great sense of humor". He almost made Melissa laugh as much as Nicholas Carsten, which surprised many people at school. (Nick always joked about finally having some competition. It was obvious to Natalie that he was jealous.)

A few months ago, someone spread a rumor that Melissa's boyfriend (Jason Durban) and the school slut (Kaelin Penny) had hooked up one night during the Summer, while Melissa was visiting her grandmother in Arizona.

Melissa was difficult to gain trust from. This was especially true for guys. Her step-father was an abuser and her mother did nothing. Her father left, and even when he came back, never tried to take her with him. (Natalie wondered how Melissa was able to appear so cheerful and upbeat at school. Wasn't she in pain?)

When Melissa asked Jason about the rumor, he claimed it wasn't true, saying he would never cheat on her. She asked Kaelin and, of course, Kaelin laughed and messed with Melissa, jokingly telling her, "Of course I slept with your boyfriend! I just had to have a piece!" She smacked her lips and winked. "Yummy."

A week later, Kaelin didn't show up one day. Then the next day, still absent. And the next…

When she finally came back to school, it was only to guide her mother to her locker so they could pack it up. She was going to be home schooled. Why?

Because Kaelin was in a wheelchair. Both her arms were broken, as well as her right leg. Her neck was also injured, but it didn't seem as severe. Whenever anyone asked her what happened, she just claimed she didn't remember. Then she'd get a faraway look in her eyes and she'd turn pale.

With all the rumors about Melissa's temper escalating, the police decided Melissa might be their main suspect. They _thought_. Apparently, she wasn't.

But the bitch had a strong alibi, so Natalie overheard. It left the police only slightly confused, but they still had more suspects. After all, a lot of girls at school really hated Kaelin, and some of her ex-boyfriends were too happy with her either.

So, she wasn't the only who could've attacked Kaelin. But Natalie knew she did it. She was sure Melissa had done it. And Jason must have been suspicious as well, because soon after Kaelin came back, he broke up with Melissa. Melissa didn't come back to school for two or three days. When she finally came back, she wasn't as cheerful, but she held her head high and forced a smile. This only made people like her even more.

Well, it made Natalie sick. Whatever that fake bitch's alibi was, it was a lie. Natalie observed Melissa for a while and knew the girl was an incredibly good liar.

Whatever. _I'll make her admit it. _Natalie promised herself as she sat in that club warehouse. _She's been deceiving people for too long. Too long._

Natalie allowed herself a slow smirk. Yes. Melissa would come clean. Natalie would make sure of it. And she'd do it by doing what Melissa did best.

Torture.

**26 students remaining.**


	10. Her Left Big Toe

**With a sudden burst of motivation, I managed to finish chapter 10! I haven't even started on chapter 11, but I will soon, I promise! Please be patient! Thank you for reading; I really hope you enjoy it!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

When Celeste Rodman (Female Student No. 11) heard Derek's name on the list of deaths, she cried for a while. A long while.

Celeste's family ignored her. She was always invisible to them. Derek was the one who found her crying behind the bleachers. He slipped his warm arm around her and hugged her tight, not saying anything, but just being there. He knew saying something wasn't going to make it better and his presence alone was enough to make Celeste feel happy.

He always managed to make her feel better. That's why Celeste liked him so much. She loved how he held her silently, rocking her sometimes, every day behind those bleachers. He was her true, best friend. He was like the big brother she never had.

And now he was dead.

Celeste didn't know what to do with herself after hearing that. She'd been planning to look for him, so maybe they could find a way to escape. But now that he was dead…

Celeste couldn't even think about it. She turned her thoughts elsewhere. Not really knowing what to do now, she thought about all the people that were stuck in this game with her, the ones who weren't dead. Could she team up with one of them?

The first person she thought about were her two friends since childhood: Lexa Abernathy (Female Student No. 2) and Kandi Clark (Female Student No. 15). Surely, she could trust those two. She'd just have to find them first.

Celeste, who had been curled in a ball under an office desk, unfolded her body and crawled out from under the desk. Before standing fully, she peeked out, making sure the room was empty. Confirming that it was, she stood up slowly and clutched her weapon.

It was a butter knife. It wasn't extremely useful, but she bet that she could do at least a little damage with it. Celeste didn't like to fight, but she would if she had to. She didn't think she had the heart to kill, but if it came down to it, she might have no choice.

Celeste was a small girl with sweet, innocent looks. She was cute with shoulder-length light brown hair and eyes that always reminded her friends of the moon. Because of her small form, she was always mistaken to be a couple years younger than she really was.

Celeste picked up her bag from under the desk and crept out of the office, quickly surveying the next room. Celeste was in a small office building. She couldn't tell what business it had once been, but from the looks of it, it wasn't a very important business.

Celeste hurried out of the office, after confirming the lobby of the building was empty, and crept outside into the street. She had no idea where to start looking for Lexa and Kandi, but she knew she had to find them somehow. Making noise would get her killed and walking around aimlessly without a good enough weapon was just as bad.

But she had to find them before it was too late. Clutching the butter knife, she turned right-

-and immediately stopped cold. A figure was several yards away from her, holding something. She couldn't make out what it was because of the distance, but it had to be that person's weapon.

Celeste started to shake with fear, clutching her butter knife. _Who is that? Should I call out to them? They're facing my direction, so they've already seen me. It's too late to run away…_

The person didn't move. Celeste's fear began to turn to confusion. Why weren't they moving? Were they as scared as she was?

Suddenly, the figure was running at her. Celeste screamed, turned, and started running as fast as her legs could go. She risked a glance back. Whoever was chasing her had a slight limp to his or her run, as if their foot or leg had been injured. Despite the limp, however, the person was still fast.

Celeste was coming to an intersection. She forced herself to run faster, her lungs burning. There was a stabbing pain forming in her side and tears were streaming heavily down her cheeks. Her heart was pounding so hard she was worried it would hammer its way out of her chest.

At the intersection, a hand shot out from the dead-end alley to her left and wrapped around her elbow. She was jerked into the darkness of the alley and then pulled through a door. She had no idea where she was, but it was dark. There was a noise, like someone locking a door, then her back was pressed against something…or someone. Just as she was about to scream again, a hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her. The person's other hand snatched her butter knife from her grasp.

Celeste's eyes were wide and tears continued down her cheeks. Now she was being held captive. But by who?

* * *

Elena Milney (Female Student No. 3) stopped once Celeste Rodman disappeared from her sight. She growled in anger, turning where she saw Celeste disappear.

The dead-end alley was dark and empty. She screeched in anger, slamming her foot down. Then she screamed in pain, because that was her injured foot.

After Brandy had walked away, Elena had picked herself up and dragged herself to a small, empty building with no windows. There, she used her flashlight to inspect her wound. Looking at it, she almost threw up. Her left big toe was barely hanging from her foot in a bloody, disgusting mess. She used the weapon she took from Derek (a small army knife) and cut off the remainder of her big toe.

She then took out a bandage she'd found inside a first-aid kit in the building she'd killed Derek in, and wrapped it carefully around her foot. Then she pulled on a clean sock, slipped her foot back into her blood-soaked tennis shoe, and picked herself up, limping out of the building.

Soon after this, she found Celeste. After debating what she damage she could do, she decided to go for the kill. As she chased the small girl, she thought about how she would end her life. She could use the small knife to simply cut the girl's throat, stab her, or she could simply use her hands and choke her. All those ways sounded good to her, the trouble was picking which one.

Elena was surprised to find that, even without her left big toe, she was a fast runner. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. She'd been gaining on the girl when, out of the blue, she disappeared into that alley.

Elena, angered that her kill had escaped her, clutched the small knife in her right hand, and turned, limping away to hide. Surely, someone would be attracted to Celeste's screams. Elena would just have to patient.

**26 students remaining.**

* * *

**This was kind of hard to write, mainly because of Elena's injury. I couldn't write it without getting an image in my head and it's really disgusting, lol. Again, thank you for reading, and please be patient with me. I'll write chapter 11 ASAP! :)**


	11. Beautiful Natasha

**Well, here's chapter 11! Ha, I know I said it would probably take awhile before I posted this, but I kept thinking up good things to write and I just had to write it! Unfortunately, I encountered a writer's block right after finished chapter 13. Anyway, here's chapter 11! I'll be posting the next two chapters soon after, so you don't really even have to wait to read them! Oh, and it probably will be awhile until I finish chapter 14 because I've been up all morning writing these three chapters and I'm pretty much out of ideas... So I'm gonna post these, get some sleep, and you can expect chapter 14 very soon! Thank you for reading! Enjoy! :)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Several minutes passed before the hand clamped over Celeste's mouth disappeared. Celeste fumbled around, pulling out her flashlight and clicking it on. She whirled around and pointed it at her captor.

Alexander Dorral?

Celeste had seen him around school before, but they'd never talked or anything. In fact, he mainly acted as if she didn't exist. She would've done the same, but she often caught herself watching him out of curiosity.

"A…Alexander?" Her voice shook slightly. He was bigger than her, which scared her. Plus, he'd basically just kidnapped her.

Alexander only held up a hand to shield his eyes from the beam of her flashlight. "Mind pointing that somewhere else? This would be a bad time to go blind."

"O-oh, I'm sorry…" She lowered the beam a little.

"Thanks." He dropped his hand and gazed at her with a bored expression. "You alright?"

Celeste was confused and a little bit shocked. "Yes…"

"Your face is a mess." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a napkin, handing it to her. "Here."

Celeste slowly took the napkin and wiped tears from her cheeks and eyes. She crumpled up the napkin in her fist and held onto it. Looking down, she asked in a small voice, "Um…why…"

"I heard you scream. Thought you could use some help." He reached down, picking up his bag and slinging it over his left shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He grabbed a bow from against the nearest wall. Celeste then noticed the quiver of arrows on his back.

"Wait!" He paused in front of the door. Celeste swallowed hard. "You're not…going to kill me...?"

"Nope." Alexander didn't turn. "I saved you, didn't I? Besides, I don't have time to kill. I'm looking for someone."

"Wh-who?" Celeste trembled. "Can I go with you?" Even though her plan had been to find Kandi and Lexa, she didn't know where to start, and she was as good as dead on her own.

Alexander turned half way and studied her. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head, trying to decided whether or not she would slow him down too much. Finally, after several, agonizing seconds of silence, Alexander shrugged and said, "Sure. If you want."

* * *

Andy Romulon (Male Student No. 8) was walking past the café Melissa Harley had last occupied. He glanced sadly at the bodies of Teresa Rommer and Kevin Kaufmen.

_It's just sad. _He thought. _Tragic._

Though he wasn't fond of Kevin, he'd heard his tortured screams. And Teresa always seemed like such a sweet girl. In fact, Andy had had a crush on her for awhile.

Andy was a 6'3 guy with dark chocolate skin, a black afro and big, friendly dark eyes. He was adopted by a single mother who adopted all her kids. He loved helping her raise and take care of them. His family was his life.

He often volunteered for the hospital and the vet. He always loved to help people, even if all he could do was something small. As long as it helped, he would do it. He just wanted to do _something_.

He once had a girlfriend, beautiful Natasha, who broke his heart and moved away. He carried her picture everywhere.

He stops in front of the café and takes out that picture, looking at it sadly. His finger stroked the image, remembering the feel of her silky, golden hair and the softness of her flawless dark skin. The way her dark brown eyes would look at him…melting his heart…

In the picture, her expression is blissful, her grin huge. He'd taken that picture on their second date. They were at the park, enjoying a picnic and bird watching. They were so happy then.

Andy smiled at the picture, giving it a quick kiss, and started to put it away again. Shots suddenly rang out and Andy's body jerked and twisted, spurting blood as it fell to the ground next to the bodies of Teresa and Kevin.

Natasha's picture was still clutched between his left thumb and index finger.

* * *

Daniel Grawson (Male Student No. 3) stepped out of the shadows and twirled his pistol before slipping it into the waistband of his jeans.

He walked over to Andy's still form and checked his pulse. Dead. Daniel smirked, noticing the picture in Andy's hand. He plucked it from between the dead boy's fingers and studied it. "Wow," He said approvingly, nudging Andy's arm with the toe of his shoe. "She's hot. You've got good taste, buddy." He folded the picture and shoved it in his back pocket. "Now, let's see…" He bent over and picked up Andy's bag, looking through it.

Daniel pulled out an ice pick and snorted. _Poor guy. Didn't even give him a decent-enough weapon._ Daniel tossed aside the ice pick and, taking Andy's bag, turned and walked down the street, a slight skip in his step.

**25 students remaining.**


	12. The Tomboy vs The Outsider

**Here it is, chapter 12! I hope you enjoy reading it! :)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Ella Kidman (Female Student No. 13) ran cautiously through the streets. She hadn't found Jessica's killer yet. They'd managed to escape the apartment building before she went looking for them.

Clutching Jessica's sickle, Ella pressed herself against the side of a building and peeked around the corner. She immediately drew back. Someone was standing at the end of the next corner.

Ella couldn't tell who it was, but if it was Jessica's killer…

Ella stepped out from behind the corner and gripped her sickle. Before she even took one step, a bullet hit the ground right in front of her left foot.

She hid again. _What the hell?_ It came from above! She scanned the tops of the buildings around and spotted someone pointing some type of rifle right at her.

Her eyes widened slightly and she turned and ran, just as another bullet was launched at her. It hit the side of the building she'd been hiding behind.

_Damn! So whoever that was has an accomplice. Okay, then. I'll just have to get him later. _Grimacing, Ella ran. Someone would be attracted to the gunshots. And she would not die without making sure Jessica's killer got what he deserved.

* * *

Ophelia lowered her sniper rifle and watched Ella Kidman take off at praiseworthy speed. _So, even the school "Ice Queen" is playing the game. That's fine. As long as she doesn't try to go after Brandy again, I don't care what she does._

Speaking of, Ophelia turned her crystal blue eyes to Brandy, who stood below her, studying the throwing knives he'd taken from Elena. He seemed unaffected by the gunshots, or maybe he was just too deep in thought to notice. Either way, it didn't matter. He just owed her even more now.

She smirked. She wanted, badly, to confront him about this now. _But, _She told herself. _Not yet. _Her eyes wandered to her watch. _Oh, look, it's going to be noon in a couple of hours. I wonder who's died so far?_

* * *

Rockelle Holmes was a risk-taking, experimenting, playful girl who loves to be impulsive and make last-minute decisions.

Along with having waist-length, dark brown hair and dark green eyes, Rockelle also had an athletic build and the personality of a tomboy. She was also the school's soccer star.

With her hair tied back in a pony tail, Rockelle sprinted carelessly through the streets. She held an axe in her right hand, her weapon. She treated it like a baton, twirling it around and tossing it in the air, catching it as it came down. She almost lost a finger doing this, but that didn't stop her.

As she was cartwheeling down the street, a shot rang out and a bullet hit the ground near her hand. She wobbled, balancing on the palms of her hands. She hopped back onto her feet and grinned, feeling a sudden surge of excitement.

Whirling around, she spotted her attacker. Eli Friddman (Male Student No. 13). Eli was the tall, dark and mysterious type. He always wore dark clothes and sat in the very back of his classes. His shaggy hair was dyed black and hung in his dark eyes. With big arms and broad shoulders, Rockelle always thought he was hot.

And now he was her opponent. She held herself back from shouting out with joy. _This is going to be fun!_

She gave her a hatchet a twirl, then gripped its handle and ran at Eli. She swung at his head; he ducked.

Crouched, Eli swept his leg, kicking her ankles. Her feet left the ground and she fell back, doing a quick backwards somersault and jumping back to her feet. Eli was only mildly impressed.

Gripping her weapon, she swung and slashed his left shoulder. He bit back a snarl as blood spurted from the wound. He covered it with his right hand, using his left hand to pull out his gun and shoot at Rockelle. He missed by half an inch.

With a giggle, Rockelle swung again, but Eli rolled to the side, and brought himself up on his knee with a groan. He raised his gun and shot at her again, the bullet tearing through her right wrist, causing her to drop her hatchet and shriek in pain.

Her left hand wrapped around her wrist and was immediately covered in blood. Eli aimed carefully and shot again, the bullet piercing the center of her chest. With another shriek, her eyes widened, and she fell back on to the ground.

Eli stood and walked over to her. Her eyes were big and pleading. Any joy and excitement that he'd seen there before was gone. He looked down at her, pity in his dark grey eyes. He tilted his head slightly and pointed his gun at her again. The next shot hit her directly in the heart.

For a split second, her eyes bugged out, then they closed and her head fell back. She was still clutching her bleeding wrist.

Eli tucked the gun away and grabbed her axe and her bag, turning and walking back into the shadows to wait for more people.

**24 students remaining.**


	13. You're Dead

**Okay, here's chapter 13! I hope you enjoy reading it! I promise to start on chapter 14 as soon as I can break past this writer's block!**

**Thank you! Enjoy! :)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

After Alexander left, Melissa wasn't sure what to do with herself. She stayed in the business building for awhile, listening to the distant gunfire. At one point, she even heard someone scream. She hoped that person was okay…

Melissa shook her head and checked her watch again. Another hour and a half until noon. She bit her lip, wondering how many were dead now.

Melissa thought about her life at home. Every night, they'd have a crappy dinner and her step-father would yell at her mom for not making a better meal. Then he'd turn and hit Melissa for "eavesdropping" even though they were still at the dinner table and she was just quietly forcing the food down her throat. Then he'd send her off to bed early without letting her finish her dinner. She never got to finish her meals and he always beat her the next morning for "wasting food" when it was his fault for not letting her finish it.

Melissa hugged her knees to her chest and swallowed down tears. The hand holding her gun trembled.

She didn't want to win. She didn't want to win and go back to that. So, she decided that she had to find someone. Someone who deserved to win and go home. She had to find them and protect them! Then, when they were the only ones left…she could finally escape.

With this thought on her mind, Melissa looked down at the gun in her hand and smiled sadly.

* * *

Nicholas Carsten was highly irritated (and jealous) when he saw Alexander Dorral take off with an unconscious Melissa. Nicholas tried to follow him, but he disappeared quickly.

Nicholas then returned to the house he'd been staying in and hung around for a few hours, thinking up a plan. That's when he heard the gunshots and ducked down to the floor, crawling over and peering out the window.

He watched Daniel Grawson stand over the body of Andy Romulon and take his bag. He shuffled through it until he found something. He tossed it aside, though, kept the bag, and walked away.

When he was gone, Nicholas slipped outside and picked up the item Daniel had tossed. An ice pick? Was that Andy's weapon?

Nicholas looked down at Andy's body. With a sad sigh, he gripped the ice pick and turned, walking back to the house. He had just started to enter when he heard the gunshot and ducked inside the house. He looked out the window.

_Shit! _Daniel had seen him. He must've been hiding… Nicholas gathered his things and ran into the kitchen.

He dove under the table and arranged the chairs as close to the table as they would go. He stopped, falling silent.

Suddenly, the kitchen door was kicked open. It slammed against the corner of the counter behind it, causing a hole to form in the back of the door.

Daniel stepped in, slowly scanning the room. He smirked. Nicholas watched him turn his back to the table, walking to the other side of the tiny kitchen. "Where are you, _Nicky_?"

_I hate that nickname… _Nicholas bit back a growl.

Daniel twirled his gun and chuckled. "You might as well come out now and face your fate. You're going to die anyway." He turned and shot at the top of the table.

Nicholas bit back a yell of surprise and jumped, hitting his head against the table. He hissed, "Ow."

The chair in front of him was pulled back and Daniel crouched down, grinning like a shark. "Hello, Nicky."

Nicholas reached back and slipped his hand into his bag. He grit his teeth and glared. "Hello, Daniel."

Daniel twirled his gun. "What weapon you got?"

"Not one of any use." Nicholas wrapped his fingers around it.

"Lemme see." Daniel dangled the gun loosely between two fingers.

"Okay…" Nicholas gripped the steel pole tightly and struck Daniel in the head with it. Daniel slumped to the floor, dropping his gun.

Nicholas grabbed his bag, stashing his pole back inside, and grabbed Daniel's gun. He hurried out from underneath the table and searched through Daniel's bag, taking his box of bullets and extra magazine.

Before leaving the room, he paused, and gave the unconscious boy a blank stare. "Thanks for the gun." As he left, he noticed the bullet Daniel had shot at the table was lodged into the wood, stuck in the surface. He pulled the ice pick out of his pocket, along with his notebook and pencil, that he'd brought with him on the trip, and smirked.

* * *

Daniel was pissed. As soon as he woke up and noticed his gun was gone, along with the bullets and extra magazine, Daniel yelled out in anger, putting his fist through the nearest wall.

_That little shit owes me a gun! Mother fucker! _After his rampage, Daniel picked up his bag, then Andy's. He glanced at the table and saw the ice pick he'd tossed in the street. There was a note next to it, "I decided not to leave you totally empty-handed, so…here you go!"

Daniel's face contorted in anger and he (reluctantly) grabbed the ice pick and stormed out of the house. _I'm going to find you, Nicky. _He thought dangerously. _And when I do, you're dead. Literally._

**24 students remaining.**


	14. Show Yourself!

**Okay, this chapter is a lot longer than I expected it to be, lol. Anyway, I finally broke through my writer's block, but I'm not sure if I did as good as I wanted to with this chapter... So, please, give me some feedback and let me know. Thanks!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

"Alright," Mr. Worden announced. "Here are the deaths: Male Student No. 8, Andy Romulon; Female Student No. 9, Rockelle Holmes. What is this? Only two? I'm disappointed!" A pause. "Here are the danger buildings..."

* * *

Celeste struggled to keep up with Alexander's long-legged stride. "So, um..." She hesitated. Alexander stayed silent. "Who, uh... who are you looking for?"

"A friend." Was his only response.

"Oh?" Celeste smiled at his back. "Boy or girl?"

"Boy."

"Oh." She paused. "Why?"

Alexander stopped and turned to look at her. "You ask too many questions." He said flatly.

"Oh," Celeste shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." She looked down.

Alexander watched her for a minute before sighing and saying, "I don't exactly know what to do. I know I want to escape. I thought he could help me."

"Oh." Celeste said again, chewing her bottom lip.

Alexander watched her for another moment, then turned back around. "Come on, let's keep going." He started walking again.

Celeste followed, doing her best to keep up. "So, um, who is your friend? Why do you think he can help?"

"He taught me how to fight," Alexander said. "He's strong, and he's smart, too. If anyone can figure a way out of this mess, it's him."

"Can we trust him?"

"Sure. Like I said, he's my friend." Alexander shrugged.

Celeste was quiet for awhile. Then she asked again, "So, who is he?"

Alexander's tone was amused. "You'll see."

Celeste frowned. She was patient, but she was also very curious. Who was Alexander's friend?

Celeste would just have to be patient.

* * *

Karolina Amadeo groaned as she forced her eyes open and looked around. "Huh...? Where am I...?"

"Karolina!" The voice was familiar. _Gosh, who is that...? _"It's me, Karolina. Are you awake?"

"Who...?" _Everything is blurry... Oh, why does my side hurt so bad?_

"Felicity." The voice answered. It was kind of high-pitched and filled with concern. "Karolina? Are you okay?"

"Felicity?" Finally, Karolina could see clearly again. She was laying on a couch, wearing just her bra with black fabric pressed against her side and tied around her stomach. Candles were lit on the coffee table behind Felicity, who's eyes were so wide that Karolina was worried they would pop out of her head.

"Oh, you're awake!" Tears filled her wide eyes. "I'm so glad..." She rubbed her eyes and sniffled.

Memories came flooding back. "Where's Jessica? And Ella?" She started to sit up, but Felicity pressed her hand against Karolina's chest and forced her to lay back down.

"Jessica is..." She swallowed hard, hesitating. "Dead."

"Dead?" Karolina's voice was just a whisper. Her eyes were as wide as Felicity's. She looked over, raising up slightly, and spotted the shadow of her best friend's corpse in the dim candlelight. "And...and Ella?" She feared the worst.

"She went to find the killer."

Okay, Karolina did _not _expect that. But she recovered from her surprise quickly and asked, "And with what weapon?" She looked at Felicity sharply.

"Jessica's sickle." Felicity was confused, as if she didn't get why that mattered.

"She's crazy." Karolina sighed and picked at the black fabric pressed against her side. "If Jessica couldn't kill her murderer with that thing, what makes her think she can?" She tugged on the fabric. "What is this?"

"Ella's shirt."

Karolina snorted. "Okay, so not only is she out looking for the murderer with a sickle, but she's shirtless, too?"

Felicity shook her head. "Well, not exactly. She had a tank top on underneath."

"Oh." Karolina sighed again, closing her eyes. She then realized she was still clutching the bottle of poison in her right hand. She held on to it tighter.

* * *

Kandi Clark (Female Student No. 15) was crouched underneath a desk in a hotel lobby. Kandi was a pretty girl with long, strawberry blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. Right now, she wore a knee-length, flowing purple skirt and a powder blue tank top; purple, strappy high heels and gold rings on every other finger.

With her right hand pressed against the floor, her left hand holding a gun pointed towards the ceiling, Kandi peeked around the corner of the desk again. Someone was in the lobby, wandering around, as if they were looking for something...or someone. Kandi tightened her grip on the gun.

Kandi was normally a sweet girl. She didn't have the heart to hurt or kill anyone. Sometimes. Kandi had a twin that she'd absorbed while still in the womb. Kandi never thought it was a big deal. It's not like her twin was actually _inside _her, right? Kandi had read fiction books about that type of thing, but she always internally laughed at the idea.

Until one night...

Her parents were fighting for the third time that night. It was near dinnertime and Kandi's mom had been cooking something, when her father walked in and started complaining about how she hadn't gotten the mail that morning, like he'd told her to. Her mom retorted by saying that she didn't do _everything _he told her to, because he wasn't the boss. This led to another huge argument, leaving whatever her mom had been cooking neglected.

Kandi was around 12-years-old when this happened. She was trying to tell her mom that whatever she'd been cooking had been neglected too long and she could smell something burning. But her mother ignored her. And if the two parents smelled the burning, they didn't seem to care.

Kandi felt a surge of panic. She frantically wondered what she should do, what she could do... And that's when her twin took over for the first time.

Kandi's twin somehow switched places with Kandi and forced her body to shove past her parents, run into the kitchen, grab the fire extinguisher from the cabinet under the sink, and put out the fire that had started. Her parents were so shocked that they just stared at her, their jaws practically touching the floor.

Kandi's twin, still in control of the body, shrugged and glared at them silently. Then she stalked up to Kandi's room, where she gave Kandi control again. Kandi immediately ran into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror in awe. Her expression was eyes full of surprise and an open mouth.

Her reflection's eyes were narrowed slightly and she was smirking.

_"Who...who are you?"_

_ "I don't have a name."_

_ "Why not?"_

_ "Because I died before I could be given one."_

_ "Oh, okay... Then how about I name you?"_

Her reflection looked dubious. _"What would you name me?"_

Kandi had to think about that. She loved reading ancient Goddesses and Gods. And her favorite was...

_"How about Artemis?"_

_ "Artemis?"_

_ "Yeah! Artemis is the name of the Goddess of the hunt and the wilderness." _Kandi grinned. _"It's perfect for you."_

Her reflection frowned slightly, unsure whether or not she liked the name. After a moment of thinking, she smiled. _"Okay. Then, my name is Artemis."_

Kandi smiled back. _"It's nice to meet you, Artemis. I'm Kandi."_

As Artemis, in Kandi's body, drew back under the desk again, she thought about that moment. The moment she was named by the twin sister that had absorbed her.

No matter what, Artemis knew that she had to protect her twin. When she was sent into the Program, Artemis was sent with her. Artemis swore to protect her sister, at all costs. Even if it meant taking over and fighting for her. If it would keep her sister alive...

As if she really had a choice, anyway. She knew Kandi wasn't going to fight, the girl was too soft-hearted. And a soft heart could get her sister killed, something she'd sworn not to let happen.

Artemis took a deep breath. The person in the lobby wasn't leaving. They were practically walking in tiny circles, as if unsure of where to go. Or maybe they were waiting for something...

Artemis, her impatience starting to get to her, clenched her right hand into a fist. Her left hand, holding the gun, trembled slightly. _Leave! _She mentally commanded the person. _Get the hell out of here!_

There was a sigh. Then a female voice said, "I know someone's here. Show yourself!"

* * *

Jacqueline Ole (Female Student No. 4) had left the school and immediately started walking, distancing herself from the school as much as possible. She wanted to stay away from that school, mainly because it would be a danger building soon. She didn't want to get caught in that mess.

Jacqueline was a cool, level headed girl with a sweet personality. For the most part, Jacqueline (also known as Jackie), was quiet in school. She would often sit by the window and smile as she let herself get lost in a daydream.

As soon as she was far enough away, Jackie calmly stood in the middle of an intersection and dug through her bag. Her weapon was a machete. Jackie sighed. She had no use for a machete. Jackie didn't really have any intentions to fight, but she also knew it was hopeless to try and escape. This city, she could already tell, was practically a maze and even if you found a way out of it, if you went too far, your collar might explode.

Jackie was a smart girl and often figured stuff out with ease. She could even figure out the most difficult of things in a small amount of time. Jackie liked to analyze and observe. She was quite good at it—these two things helped her figure stuff out. They were key.

Jackie, after digging through her bag, gripped her machete by the handle and started walking in a random direction. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she'd eventually find somewhere she could stay.

For awhile, she stayed in a small, half empty cabin, located just a few feet into the woods she found that lay behind the city. She studied the map closely and discovered a forest seemed to be surrounding the city, which was, indeed, a giant maze.

When she heard the gunshots, she started packing up her things. As she walked, she listened as Kevin Kaufmen's screams of agony became more distant. Yes, she was walking in the opposite direction of the commotion. It would help her to stay as far from the other students as possible.

She'd been walking around the city for the rest of the morning. The six a.m. announcements passed and Jackie marked the danger buildings and crossed off the students that had died. She wasn't surprised to find Kevin's name on the list.

Eventually, she found a dead-end alley that she could relax in for a few hours. When noon arrived, she was walking again. She stopped to mark off danger buildings and cross off those that had died. She was surprised to hear that only two had died in the last six hours.

While packing up her map, Jackie happened to look up and see someone disappear into a hotel a few yards away. They didn't seem to notice her, just ran right into the building without even looking around to make sure no one had seen them. How careless.

Jackie didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't think any of them deserved to die. Jackie was scared; she didn't want to die. She just wanted to go home and lay on her bed, turn her music on and get lost in her own world, like she usually did.

Then her mother would poke her head into the room, smile and say, "It's time for dinner, sweetheart." The same thing she said every night when she was finished cooking. Then she would ask, "Will you come help me set the table?" And Jackie would happily agree. Then, after dinner, she and her mother would wash the dishes together. Her mother would wash and Jackie would dry, and they would talk the entire time.

Jackie approached the hotel, gripping the handle of her machete. She didn't really intend to use it, but you could never be too careful... This is a dangerous game, you never know who's willing to play...

Jackie walked into the hotel lobby. It appeared empty, and dark. Jackie wandered around the room, wondering if the person had already disappeared upstairs. She hesitated for a few moments, wondering if she should... Then she did.

She called out, just to test, "I know someone's here! Show yourself!" Her voice shook slightly.

Just then, someone jumped up from behind the front desk and pointed something at her. Jackie's eyes widened slightly and she jumped to the right, barely managing to dodge the bullet. She gripped her machete, her eyes pleading. "Wait! Wait! I don't want to fight, I swear!" But the person shot again. Jackie screamed, jumping to the left this time.

The person behind the desk (she noticed it was a girl) jumped over it and ran at her, gun still pointed in her direction. Adrenaline rushed through Jackie's veins and her heart thundered. She swallowed down another scream and swiped her machete at the girl.

She squeezed her eyes shut. The person had only been about a foot away from her by then, and the machete had slit the girl's neck open. Blood spurted out like a sprinkler, covering Jackie's front with crimson. Jackie squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, her stomach turning.

As soon as she remembered that someone might've heard, not only the gunshots, but Jackie's screams, Jackie dragged the girl's body behind the desk and pried her gun out of her dead hands. She stashed her machete in her bag and ran down the hall. When she found the door to the stairs, she threw it open. If it wasn't for the small, square window on the landing, it would've been pitch black.

Jackie was already half way to the second landing when the door she'd just come through to get to the stairs slammed shut and footsteps were running after her.

**23 students remaining.**


	15. Bulletproof

**Okay, like chapter 14, this one is a lot longer than I expected it to be... lol! I hope you enjoy it!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

After Daniel Grawson left the house where Nicholas had stolen his gun, he decided he'd make his way towards the other side of the city.

As he was getting closer, he heard gunshots and screams. About a minute passed before it went silent. Grinning, Daniel headed in the direction of the noise.

He stood in front of a hotel a few minutes later. He walked into the lobby and looked around. There was the smell of blood in the air and when he checked under the front desk, he found the reason. Kandi Clark (Female Student No. 15) was dead, her neck slit. Whoever killed her must have shoved her body underneath the desk.

Daniel stood straight and listened. He could barely hear the _thump, thump, thump _of footsteps running on stairs. His shark grin returned and he ran down the darkened hallway. He found a door and opened it, seeing that it led to a stairway.

He started hurrying up the stairs, spotting a dark figure above him. For a moment, it was still, staring at him. Then it took off, running carefully, but quickly, up the stairs. Daniel hurried after whoever-it-was.

His victim reached the last landing, the very top floor, and pushed open the door, sprinting down the hallway. Daniel caught the door before it closed fully, shoving it back open, and started after his victim (he then realized it was a girl). Suddenly, the door to a room to his right opened and he was tackled, his back hitting the wall. He slid to the floor, his attacker on top of him, a knife glinting in the sunlight coming from the window in the room.

Daniel, panting, looked up into his attacker's face and snarled. Who dare let Daniel Grawson's victim escape? His hatred was as deep as the ocean when he saw who it was.

Brandy Boyette.

* * *

As Brandy was walking through the city, his bag slung over his shoulder, the pouch of throwing knives on his belt, he stopped in front of the body of Rockelle Holmes (Female Student No. 9). He'd heard about her death on the noon announcement.

Brandy didn't particularly like Rockelle, but he still felt bad for her. He'd only done her once, when she started experimenting. She asked him what sex was like and he asked her if she wanted to find out. Excited, she said she did.

After that, she counted him as one of her friends, though he didn't return that favor. He wasn't really interested in being friends with her. He hadn't even been interested in having sex with her, but it was obvious that that was what she'd originally been wanting to ask him, not, "What is sex like?" He knew this because it'd happened with several other girls before. Rockelle was no different from them.

Well, that's not true. She was different. After it was done, she counted him as a friend, not a sex toy or a booty call. She was really talkative and hyper, but she was also really tough and stubborn.

Brandy turned away from her corpse, stepping over it and starting to walk past an alley. He detected movement in the shadows, too little too late. Eli Friddman burst out of the shadows, swinging a bloody ax in his left hand.

Brandy ducked just as the ax was swung at his head. He pulled out a throwing knife and stabbed it into Eli's side. Eli growled and wrenched away, his face contorting in dark anger. His eyes were mad. He'd gone mad.

Eli reached into his pocket and pulled out a small hand gun. A shot rang out.

* * *

Ophelia watched as the gun fell from Eli's hand. She held her sniper rifle, pointing it straight at him, aiming for the middle of his chest.

Bulls-eye.

She smirked. She'd been on top of a building, a few feet ahead of Brandy before he came to Rockelle's corpse, when she spotted Eli waiting in the shadows. She climbed down from the building and hid in the opposite alley. Eli wasn't paying any attention to her. His focus was on Brandy's approaching footsteps.

When Eli first ran out of the shadows and swung the ax at Brandy's head, Ophelia almost panicked. Almost. But she knew Brandy was better than that, so she took her time aiming her sniper rifle. When Eli pulled out his gun, that's when Ophelia pulled the trigger.

Eli dropped to the ground like a sack of heavy potatoes. He still clutched the ax, but the gun now lay on the ground beside his head.

Ophelia stood still, a few feet behind Brandy. Brandy stood just as still for a moment. Then, he walked forward and picked up Eli's gun, then pried the ax from his dead fingers.

"So, you finally decided to come down, huh?"

Brandy's voice startled her. She lowered her rifle by her side and smirked. "Well, you needed my help and I couldn't do as much damage from the rooftop."

"Really." Brandy's voice was bored. He stood straight and finally turned his head to look at her. The seriousness in his eyes gave Ophelia a funny feeling.

She smiled seductively. "Really. Listen, Brandy..." She figured, since she'd finally come down from the top of the buildings, it was okay to collect what Brandy owed her. "You already knew I was helping you, didn't I?"

Brandy simply stared at her blankly. Quietly, he sighed and said, "You weren't as sneaky as you thought you were."

She smiled again and wrapped a strand of her light blonde hair around her finger. "Oh? That's too bad." She pouted cutely and started towards him. "Anyway, I was thinking, since you owe me..."

Brandy stared at her. She stopped in front of him and smiled wider. She knew from the look in those chocolate brown eyes that he already knew what she was implying.

Without a word, Brandy turned and started in a direction that would lead them a little farther into the city. Ophelia was slightly confused, but as she followed him, she spotted it. There was a tall hotel just another block away.

As he walked, Brandy shoved the ax into his bag and tucked the gun into the back pocket of his jeans. Ophelia's eyes followed the gun until it disappeared into his back pocket. Her eyes remained on his back pockets until they reached the hotel and she forced herself to look up at it.

She stopped to stare at the building, even as Brandy just walked right into it. After several seconds, she realized he'd gone in without her, and hurried inside, catching up with him on the first landing of the stairs.

As they walked up the stairs, Ophelia pouted and complained, "Why are we going to the very top floor? The first would have been fine, it's not like we need an incredibly nice room."

Brandy didn't reply to this, just kept walking. Disappointed by his silence, Ophelia forced herself to shut up and just follow him. After all, she was getting what she wanted.

When they reached the very top floor, Brandy passed a few doors before stopping at one. Ophelia wondered if he was just picking a random room or if it was a specific choice he was making. She closed off all these thoughts when Brandy opened the door, turned to her, and crooked his index finger at her, beckoning her to him.

* * *

Brandy was startled awake a few minutes later by the sound of running footsteps. He was lying on his stomach, his left arm hanging off the edge of the bed. He raised himself up and looked over at Ophelia, who still asleep next to him, curled up in a ball.

Brandy crept out of bed, got dressed, and walked to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen. He peeked out through the peephole just as Jacqueline Ole sprinted past the room. He threw open the door just as her pursuer started past the door.

He tackled the person, who fell back against the wall and slid to the floor. Brandy sat on top of him and pulled a throwing knife out of the pouch on his belt, pointing the blade at the person's throat. He bit back a growl.

Daniel Grawson.

Daniel, breathing hard from chasing Jackie, easily shoved Brandy off him and scrambled to his feet. Brandy started to attack again, but Daniel grabbed his wrist and pried the knife out of his hand. He kicked Brandy in the chest and pinned him to the floor with his foot. He was about to bend over and cut Brandy's throat when three shots rang out and Daniel fell to the floor.

Brandy sat up on his elbows and looked back at Ophelia, who was pointing her rifle where Daniel had been standing. She was still naked, but sunlight was coming in from the window behind her, silhouetting her.

She smiled and tilted her head slightly. "I guess you owe me more now, huh?"

Brandy looked at her, then down the hall. When he looked back, there was a look in his eyes that surprised her.

Ophelia blinked and then smiled, a little sadly, "Go ahead. I understand."

She didn't know who Daniel had been chasing, but she knew that from the look in Brandy's eyes, that it was someone important. She watched him grab the knife from Daniel's dead hand and run down the hall after whoever Daniel had been chasing.

Ophelia came out into the hall, her rifle pointed at the ground. Tears formed in her eyes. No, she hadn't just protected him because she wanted sex. She was in love with him. Figuring that he wasn't interested in relationships, Ophelia never approached him, just watched from afar. When they woke up in the Program, she her plan was to protect him.

She came right after him. Girl #5 following and protecting Boy #5. She decided that, if she couldn't have a relationship with him, she'd protect him, say he owed her, then have sex with him. While they were doing it, she pretended they were making love instead of just having sex.

It didn't help her broken heart feel any better. Her heart, which had already been broken for a long time, shattered even more when Brandy's chocolate brown eyes looked as if Daniel had been chasing the love of his life.

Was Brandy in love with someone? Had he been thinking about her when Elena almost caught him off guard?

Ophelia gripped her rifle and forced her eyes away from the end of the hall, back to Daniel's body.

Which was no longer there.

Her eyes wide, Ophelia cried out, hoping Brandy would hear her. Daniel had somehow survived and now he was gone. Ophelia turned to hurry back into the hotel room-

-and almost ran straight into Daniel himself. Her scream was cut off as he wrapped his big hands around her neck and squeezed tightly. The rifle fell from her hands as she clawed at his hands, coughing and sputtering. Colorful spots were appearing in her vision, which was starting to turn black.

Brandy's face was the last thing she saw in her mind as she finally blacked out.

* * *

Daniel let go of Ophelia's neck and watched her body slump to the floor. He had to admit, she looked hot when she was naked, but this was not the time.

He had a victim who'd escaped, and the person who helped her escape, to catch. With Ophelia's bag slung over one shoulder, his own bag slung over the other, Daniel bent over and picked up Ophelia's sniper rifle.

His shark grin back in place, Daniel peered down his shirt at the bullet proof vest he'd found in the abandoned police station he'd been hiding in when he first came out of the school. How lucky was it that the police just happened to be leaving those there?

Unfortunately, he couldn't get into their vault of weapons. He'd been planning on looking for something to help him get in later, but he'd forgotten all about it until now, as he looked down at the vest.

He turned his attention back to the task at hand and turned, sprinting towards the stairs. There was another stairway around the corner at the end of the hall, which is where his two victims must have gone. He ran down two flights, reaching the second floor. By now, this is where they should be.

Gunshots confirmed exactly that. With his shark grin in place, he pushed open the door and walked out into the hallway of the second floor.

* * *

_I don't want to die, I don't want to die!_

"Jacqueline!" The voice sounded vaguely familiar and it was gaining on her. Jackie risked a glance over her shoulder and stopped when she saw Brandy Boyette.

She groaned. "Not you!" She pulled out Kandi Clark's gun and pointed it at him. Brandy skidded to a stop and held up both hands, dropping the throwing knife he'd been holding. "Why are you chasing me?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, Jackie. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." His voice was sincere, but she wasn't falling for it.

"Shut up!" She shrieked. "Why? Why do you care? Oh, I get it." She glared. "You want to fuck me, don't you? That's all you want. You're just pretending to give a shit!"

Brandy winced like he'd been slapped. Jackie wished, oh she wished, she could slap him. But she couldn't get too close. It was too dangerous—there was no doubt that he was physically stronger than she was.

"Jackie-"

"Stop calling me that! Only my friends and family can call me that." She realized her hands were shaking, her aiming all off now. She tried to steady herself, taking deep breaths.

Brandy's expression was solemn. "Jacqueline-"

"Enough!" She shrieked and shot him—twice. The bullets his right knee and his stomach and he fell to the ground with a cry of surprise and pain.

Jacqueline lowered the gun, starting towards him. She'd slap him—just once. He deserved it after all. He was dying, he couldn't overpower her now.

Three shots were then fired and she collapsed right next to Brandy, the bullets burning holes in her back.

* * *

Daniel's shark grin was as wide as it had been the entire first few hours of the Program.

**20 students remaining.**


	16. That Was Sick

**Again, another long chapter. I'm writing a lot recently, lol. Oh, well, I guess that's a good thing, isn't it? I hope you enjoy chapter 16! More is soon to come!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Elena heard the gunshots and ran in the direction of the sound. She limped slightly, but she ignored it because she was excited. If she could find whoever was causing those gunshots, she could get a better weapon than this pathetic knife she was carrying around.

She reached her destination—a hotel? As she limped up the stairs, she wondered if anyone was still up there. She stopped on the second floor, opening the door and carefully peering out. There was no one in sight, though there were two bodies lying in the middle of the hallway.

Elena limped over to the bodies. The first one was Jacqueline Ole. The back of her white tank top had three holes and was turning crimson with her blood. The body next to her was Brandy Boyette.

Elena felt a surge of anger. That bastard had stolen her throwing knives. She searched his bag, but it had been emptied. With a growl, she chucked the bag farther down the hall and started to stand.

She heard a moan and whirled around. Brandy stirred a little, his right hand gripping a fistful of his shirt, in front of his stomach, where he'd been shot. He'd also been shot in the right knee, Elena noticed.

Elena smirked slowly and kneeled down next to Brandy. She pulled the small knife from her back pocket and pressed the tip against his neck. Brandy's eyes snapped open. They widened slightly when they first saw her, but then turned blank.

"Elena," He croaked. "It's been awhile."

"Only a few hours." Elena pressed the tip of the knife harder against his neck. A line of blood slipped down his skin, dotting the carpet. "It's nice to see you again." She started to cut a line across his neck, going slow. "Where are my knives, you bastard?"

"Daniel," He rasped. His expression was still unconcerned. "Daniel Grawson has them."

"He took all your weapons?" He'd be dead soon, she knew. She continued to cut. Blood dribbled out of Brandy's mouth and the life in his eyes was fading.

"There's a gun," He gurgled. "in my back pocket. Feel free to get it. The bag with the bullets is still on the top floor."

He was gone before Elena even finished the slit.

She reached the top floor, where Ophelia's naked corpse lay a few feet away, across the hall from a door that was wide open. Elena limped into the room and searched around, finding the bag under the bed.

She pulled it out and unzipped it. There it was—the box of bullets and two extra magazines, already full. She stashed them in her bag, next to the gun she'd taken out of Brandy's back pocket.

Now that she had what she wanted, a new and better weapon, Elena limped out of the hotel, making her way down the street. She needed to rest, she was already starting to get tired and her left foot was throbbing.

She broke into the first house she found and hid her stuff in cabinets in the kitchen. Then she stumbled back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. A spring dug into her back, but she ignored it, quickly falling into a much-needed, deep sleep.

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this," Felicity said again, her voice filled with just as much fear as her eyes. "Ella is going to kill me."

"Shut up and keep walking." Karolina said, holding on to Felicity as she wobbled slightly. She was still clutching her bottle of poison.

Not long after the noon announcement, Karolina got bored and finally told Felicity that she wanted to move to a different location. The apartment room they were in was filled with the stench of Jessica's blood and Karolina couldn't stand to look at her corpse anymore. Any longer and she would have broke down right there.

Felicity reluctantly agreed to move locations, but she thought Karolina was talking about moving to a different room. No. She was talking about an entirely different _building_.

Felicity was praying they wouldn't run into Ella. She was pretty sure she and Karolina weren't supposed to move. After all, Ella had told her, "Stay here. Stay here and protect Karolina." But how did Ella expect her to do that? Felicity didn't even have a proper weapon to use!

"Karolina," Felicity tried again. "We should really go back. I mean, we can stay in a different room, but Ella said..."

"I don't give a damn about what Ella said." Karolina snapped. "I don't feel comfortable in that building. Do you want me to feel uncomfortable?"

Felicity frowned and looked away. "No..."

"I didn't think so. Thanks." Karolina smiled slightly at Felicity, even though she'd just snapped at the poor girl like the whole Program was her fault. Though Karolina knew it wasn't.

"Still, I think just wandering around like this is dangerous." Felicity said. "We don't have any good weapons."

"I still have my poison." Karolina held up her right fist.

Felicity frowned again. "No offense, Kare, but your poison isn't going to do a whole lot of damage, unless you're actually able to force it down someone's throat."

Karolina was quiet for a moment. Then, reluctantly, she mumbled, "I guess that's true." She sighed, stopping. "I guess we should turn around then."

"Where do you two think you're goin'?"

Both girls stopped dead and looked up. A few feet in front of them stood Daniel Grawson, who had three bags and a sniper rifle. He had a predatory grin on his face.

"Oh," Felicity's voice shook. "Uh-oh."

"Don't panic," Karolina whispered. "We'll be alright."

"It's nice to see you again, Karolina." Daniel took a slow step forward. Then another. His eyes strayed to her torso. She only wore a bra since Ella had had to rip off her shirt so she could cover the wound. "Lookin' hot."

"Shut up, ass-face." Karolina glared at him.

"Well, that was mean." Daniel's eyes widened and he pretended to look wounded, putting his hand to his heart. That same hand held the sniper rifle.

Karolina crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, it was. I intended to be mean."

"Well, then," Daniel's grin returned. "Allow me to return the favor with my own level of mean." He aimed the sniper rifle at Felicity, whose face went completely white. She started to tremble and whimper. "You see, I don't do the whole name-calling business. So, I'll just go with this."

He shot the rifle. The bullet hit Felicity's collar, which exploded, decapitating her. Karolina shrieked, moving away as blood splashed onto her. Felicity's headless body fell back on the street, squirting out blood, covering the ground.

Daniel licked his lips, his grin widening. Glee danced around in his eyes. "That was sick!" He yelled and whooped loudly, breaking into a laugh. "I'll have to try that again." Karolina's eyes widened as he looked at her. "Oh, don't worry. Not to you." She relaxed only slightly.

Then he said, "I have something else I want to do to you."

* * *

Alexander was frustrated. As they walked through the city, he checked every single building and there was still no sign of him. Still no sign of...

Alexander restrained himself from punching a building. It wasn't worth breaking his hand. He stopped and turned to Celeste, who stopped and looked back at him, her expression questioning.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Alexander exhaled heavily. "We're not making much progress. If anything, we're just wasting time and we're in a lot of danger running around aimlessly like this." He checked his watch. "I want to find a building and rest for awhile. Are you okay with that?"

Celeste was more than okay with that. Her legs were starting to cramp and she was getting a headache. She was exhausted and on the verge of breaking down into tears because she wanted, more than anything, to just go home.

Celeste nodded at Alexander. "Yes, I'm okay with that."

"Cool," Alexander replied. "Then let's-" He suddenly fell silent, his mouth still open, still ready to say something. He dropped his voice to a whisper, leaning in slightly to Celeste, "Don't move. Is there someone behind me?"

Celeste's eyes darted over his shoulder, then back to his face. She barely nodded, but he saw the slight movement. "Okay," He whispered. "Stay still."

At a fast speed, Alexander pulled an arrow out of the quiver and whirled around, raising his bow and aiming the arrow.

"Wait! Stop!"

Alexander did. That voice... He'd heard it somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. He focused his eyes on the person that he'd considered a threat just moments ago...and broke into a smirk.

"Well, if it isn't Ninja Girl."

Melissa smiled, relieved, and walked over to him and Celeste. "Hey, Bow Boy. I didn't think I'd run into you again."

"Same here." Alexander put the arrow back, tucking the bow into his bag. He adjusted the strap on his shoulder and looked down at her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I didn't exactly know where to go." Melissa replied. "So I stayed in that business building for awhile. Then I left, because it was supposed to be a danger building soon." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "But I didn't know where to go, so I just started walking around..."

"That's dangerous, you know." Alexander shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and stared at the school's beauty.

"I know," She said and smiled slightly. "But I have a gun and a bad temper, so I think I'm okay."

"I guess you're better off than most." Alexander glanced back at Celeste. "Celeste and I are just going to go find a building to rest in for a few hours. Then we're going to continue looking."

"Looking?" Melissa frowned up at Alexander. "For what?"

"I told you." Alexander replied. "When I left, I said I was looking for someone."

"Oh," Melissa's eyes darted briefly to Celeste. When she saw them together, she thought he'd found who he was looking for. Apparently not. "Who are you looking for, anyway? Maybe I saw them."

"I doubt that." Alexander said. Melissa didn't respond, she just watched him. He blinked. "Did you see anyone?"

"Well, no, not exactly."

Alexander grinned. "See, I was right to doubt."

"I didn't say you were wrong." Melissa smiled again.

Celeste just watched the two of them in silence, wondering what was happening. Were these two friends? She'd never seen them together at school... Maybe they were secret friends? Or maybe they were more than friends.

_No, that's not right. Melissa was dating that Jason guy. When he broke up with her, she was crushed. _Celeste then thought of something. _Maybe Alexander comforted her! _She immediately threw that thought away.

No offense to Alexander, but he didn't seem to Celeste like the type of guy who'd be comfortable in that situation. But Celeste was just going on what she knew so far about Alexander, what she'd been able to observe about him. Which wasn't much. He did a good job of keeping to himself.

"...Anyway, can I come with you?" The question surprised Alexander. Melissa wanted to go with them? Why?

"Why?" He voiced the question he'd just been thinking.

Melissa shrugged. "Because I don't want to be alone. Is there a problem with that?" Her eyes flicked to Celeste and she smiled sweetly.

Celeste smiled shyly back. She'd always been a little envious of Melissa. If they were at school instead of the Program, Melissa probably wouldn't have even noticed her, because she'd be too busy with all her friends.

_Not that that's a bad thing. Friendship is important and she's not popular in the sense that she purposefully ignores people. She doesn't ignore anyone, but that doesn't mean that she notices everyone. Ignoring people and noticing them are totally different._

Alexander looked at Melissa and shrugged. "I don't care if you join us. You can if you want." He turned to Celeste. "Do you mind, Celeste?"

"No, of course not," Celeste replied with a shake of her head. "The more the merrier." She tried for a calm, cheerful smile, but it was more shaky than she intended. She had to admit, she was nervous. She'd heard the rumors about Melissa's temper. About why Jason broke up with her—because, despite her strong alibi, he suspected that she was the one who messed Kaelin up so bad.

Celeste didn't have much of an opinion on the matter. She didn't know Melissa very well, so she couldn't accuse her nor could she defend her. But Melissa seemed like a sweet girl.

Melissa smiled at Celeste. "Thanks." She walked over and stood beside Celeste, starting to walk next to her as they followed Alexander through the streets, looking into buildings to see if they were good enough to shelter the three for a few hours.

"How about here?" Melissa pointed to a small, square building with no windows. It seemed out of place, wedged between two tall buildings that were almost like skyscrapers.

"Why there?" Alexander made a face. "There aren't any windows."

"So?" Melissa had a challenging look in her eyes.

Alexander sighed. "Alright, we'll check it out. But I'm still concerned about the no-windows thing."

"I don't see why," Melissa said. "It's not like windows are a must."

"But they can be important." Alexander grimaced. Melissa only sighed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

Alexander opened the front door. Immediately, he stepped back from the entrance, his eyes wide in shock and disgust. Melissa looked over at him in confusion. "Alexander? What is it?"

Melissa peered into the house. Celeste peeked over her shoulder. They both sucked in a breath at the same time.

Inside the small house, a bed and a nightstand sat against the wall across from the door. That was the only furniture. But, in that bed...

Melissa walked over and gently turned the girl's body so that her front was facing the ceiling. Melissa jerked away. The girl, Karolina Amadeo (Female Student No. 1) was dead.

**17 students remaining.**


	17. And So, The Ice Queen Found Her Target

**This chapter was kind of hard to write. Lol, you'll see why. I have been working since 6 am and this (along with chapters 18, 19 and 20) is my result! (Of course, I had some interruptions, it really doesn't take several hours to write a few chapters... xD)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

The area around the bed was covered in blood. The nightstand, the walls, the bed itself...

Karolina was naked, her body scratched up and covered in deep gashes, as well as much of her own blood. The blood seemed to be coming from so many places, but there was a huge puddle right between her...

Melissa peeled back the blankets and almost threw up. It looked as if Karolina's most intimate spot had been stabbed multiple times. Like someone had tried shoving a knife...

She pushed away the images, the thoughts. She couldn't think those horrible things and she couldn't look at the evidence anymore. She threw the blanket over Karolina's body, covering the dead girl completely.

While Melissa only felt like she was going to throw up, Celeste was actually crouched in the opposite corner of the room, doing just that. Alexander stood in the doorway, his eyes still wide with disgust, but now, instead of shock, there was something else...hatred? Did he know who did this?

"I'll bet you I know who it was." He said as if he could read Melissa's mind. Melissa looked over at him, waiting. In the corner, Celeste continued to retch. "Daniel. That son of a bitch..."

"Daniel?" Melissa blinked, then remembered. "Oh, wait. Daniel Grawson?"

"Yeah, that sick bastard." Alexander turned and almost punched the door frame, but stopped himself at the last second. He turned back to the room, his fists clenched so tightly, he drew blood from his palms. "Let's get out of here. We've still got a find a place to rest." Without waiting for the two girls, he turned and stomped outside.

Melissa hurried over to Celeste, kneeling next to her and rubbing her back. "Celeste?" Her voice was soft, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Celeste croaked. "I'll be fine. Let's just get out of here, like Alexander said." She was shaking so badly that Melissa had to help her stand. Celeste shook her head. "I can't be here anymore." She pushed away from Melissa and ran out of the house.

With one last look at the blood-covered bed, Melissa shuddered and ran after Celeste.

* * *

Daniel was feeling good as he walked through the streets, a slight skip in his step. He was whistling cheerfully, swinging the sniper rifle back and forth.

Oh, yes, he was having loads of fun. The Program was turning out to be more fun than he'd expected. Yes, at first, Daniel was angry that they'd all been chosen. He had been angry because he didn't like what they were forcing them to do.

But they weren't forcing him anymore. Daniel was doing this all on his own. He was participating—he was playing the game and he was having a lot more fun than he'd expected to have.

His shark grin was glued to his face. He continued to walk/skip and whistle as he made his way through the empty streets. He would win this game.

He would win it.

* * *

Adrian Lawrence was sitting on a sidewalk by himself, bent over his dagger. He was cutting the bread that the people of the Program had supplied. He tossed a piece of the bread in his mouth and sat there, chewing thoughtfully.

He looked up and noticed that Ella Kidman (Female Student No. 13) was standing a few yards away. Her long hair blew in an invisible breeze and her right hand clutched the sickle that Jessica had come at him with.

_Now what? _Adrian put the bread back into his bag, zipped up the bag, and stood, holding his dagger in his right hand. He stared back at Ella, who stood still, cautiously watching him.

"Can I help you?" He called out, his tone dripping with annoyed sarcasm.

Ella grimaced and took a step forward. "It was you, wasn't it? You killed Jessica!" Her voice became a bit high-pitched as she became more and more upset.

Adrian shrugged, shoving his left hand into his jean pocket. He raised his dagger to his face and studied the blade boredly. "So what if I did? She attacked me first."

He could tell that, second by second, Ella was becoming more and more pissed off. Tears of anger were even starting to form in her eyes.

Gripping the handle of the sickle, Ella ran at him at a speed that surprised him. She swung, but Adrian ducked and backed up a few steps, tightening his grip on the handle of the dagger. He jabbed it at her, but she jumped out of the blade's reach.

For a moment, both of them hunched over in an attack position, they just watched each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Ella held on to the sickle tightly, prepared to strike at any time. The same went for Adrian with his dagger.

Ella made the first attack, lunging at her opponent, preparing to swing the sickle, aiming for his head. But he dodged, moving to the side, and Ella's sickle slashed at air. She turned in his direction quickly, ready to dodge any attacks.

Adrian moved in slightly, only enough that Ella wouldn't notice. He swiped at her stomach with his dagger, purposefully making an obvious attack. She moved back, then moved in again, coming close enough to swing her sickle at his face.

This is what he'd been expecting. He dodged her sickle, moving to the side, then lunged while Ella was still near. She tried moving back as soon as she realized what had happened, but it was too late by then. Adrian dug his dagger into her stomach and she yelped in pain.

Unfortunately, Adrian's clever move had a downside. Because he was so close, it gave Ella in opportunity. She swung her sickle, digging it into his left shoulder blade.

He bit back a yell and spun away from her. He dropped his bloody dagger and reached back, barely touching his shoulder blade. His fingers came back slick with blood.

Ella, clutching her stomach, came at him again. He backed away as she swung again. Now his dagger was several feet behind Ella, who was still swinging at him, forcing him to back up until he felt his back press against the wall of a building.

Ella swung again, but Adrian moved his head and her sickle hit the brick. Adrian moved to the side, circling her until he was behind her. She spun around, her eyes wild with fury and hatred, the sickle prepared to cut into him again.

He turned quickly and ran for his dagger, grabbing it off the ground, almost tripping over in the process. Ella came running after him, her sickle raised. As she run, she swung at him multiple times. His back suffered a few cuts, but he was alright otherwise.

Adrian whirled around, slashing his dagger upward. Her left cheek suffered a deep gash. She wobbled a bit on her feet, struggling to keep her balance. Adrian, panting, kicked her in the stomach and she fell to the ground.

Ella swung her sickle at his left ankle, but he took a step back, easily avoiding the blade. She jumped to her feet and ran at him, throwing her arms around his stomach and tackling him to the ground. She sat up quickly and brought her blade down towards his face.

He grabbed her wrist and held tight, the sickle's blade inches from his face. Unable to currently use her weapon, Ella aimed to punch him instead, but he grabbed her other wrist and held just as tight. Ella screeched in pure anger, jerking her wrists, but Adrian refused to let go.

Unfortunately, to grab her wrists, Adrian had had to drop his dagger. It rested a couple inches from his right hip. Unsure of what else to do, Adrian tugged Ella closer to him, then slammed his forehead against hers. There was a noise, kind of like a _crack! _and Ella jerked back, falling off of Adrian and onto the ground beside his feet. Her wrists slipped from his grasp, her sickle fallen from her hand.

Blood was coming from her forehead and she struggled to sit up. She struggled just to say conscious. Adrian picked up his dagger and stumbled over to Ella, who looked up and glared at him, a fire of hatred raging in her cold, blue-black eyes. She didn't say anything; she didn't need to.

A little blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. She pressed both arms against her stomach, covering them in blood. She was breathing hard and blood was inching down her face. Adrian studied her. She looked so pathetic, yet strong. She'd fought hard.

It was too bad she'd lost.

Adrian kicked her in the nose, breaking it and she fell back onto the ground. He loomed over her, merciless. She spit up blood. He pried her arms away from her stomach and pressed his foot down on her wound. She pressed her lips tight together, a muffled scream barely escaping. Holding her wrists together with one hand, Adrian slashed open her chest with his dagger. This time, she opened her mouth and screamed outright. He carved a shallow, random pattern above her heart. She kicked her legs and he pressed his foot down harder on her stomach. She let out a high-pitched, ear-piercing scream.

Then, with a jerk, Adrian stabbed Ella. The blade pierced her throat, digging in, the blade just barely poking out from the other side. Blood spurted from the wound; Ella's eyes went wide and her mouth opened as if to scream again, but the life left her eyes and no sound came out.

Panting, Adrian just stayed in that position, still clutching the handle of the dagger. He stared at her dead, blood-covered face for another few moments before moving his foot to her chest and pulling the blade from her neck. A thin fountain of blood followed the dagger.

Adrian fell back on the ground, breathing hard. He stared at his right hand. His skin, as well as the entire dagger, had turned dark crimson with Ella's blood. He then looked up at her body, staring at it for such a long time that he assumed hours had past, when it had really only been a few minutes.

Blood was running down his face from his forehead and his back stung. He could feel his own blood sliding down his back. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back towards the sky, breathing heavily through his mouth. He sucked in a huge breath.

He became so lost in his own world that he didn't even hear the footsteps approaching.

"Adrian?"

His eyes snapped open and his head swiveled around, his right hand holding up his dagger, which was dripping with Ella's blood. He relaxed when he saw who it was that had spoken. "Well... If it isn't... Alexander..." He allowed a small, relieved smirk before dropping the dagger and passing out.

**16 students remaining.**


	18. Highly Paranoid

**I don't have much to say, lol. So...enjoy chapters 18, 19 and 20! :)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Gordon Jabal (Male Student No. 7) had always loved football. He also loved to work with his hands.

Gordon had an athletic build, light brown skin, cropped black hair and dark brown eyes. He was a friendly guy, with next to no enemies and tons of friends. Everyone liked him. He was kind of old-fashioned and strongly opposed to violence against females, even if they threw the first punch. Even against each other.

After Gordon left the school, he ran all over the city looking for a place to stay. Even now, two hours after noon, he still hadn't settled on a place. He'd been walking aimlessly all morning, going nowhere. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to play the game, but he didn't want to die. It was a no-win situation for him. He was sure he'd lose.

As he walked, he held his weapon: a book. None other than the bible, too. How ironic was that? _Thou shalt not kill. Well, look where we are!_

What was he supposed to do with a bible? Read someone to their death?

_Yeah, right. Fuck. As if that could actually happen._

Gordon paused outside of an abandoned club warehouse and sat on the sidewalk, dropping his bag between his legs. He sighed. _I don't want to be here. I don't want to kill anyone. Not that I'd actually be able to, what, with a bible as my weapon. They really screwed me._

Gordon was especially not going to fight a girl. If a girl came after him with a weapon, he was just going to stand there and take it. If they killed him, well, fine. But he wasn't going about to hit a girl.

Surprisingly enough, a girl emerged from the warehouse behind him, holding a switchblade. She didn't say a word, just slowly started walking towards him.

Gordon grabbed his bag, jumped to his feet, and backed away just as she slashed her knife. She ended up slashing the empty air where he was sitting just seconds before.

Gordon had to admit, he was shocked. He didn't expect any of the girls chosen for this to fight, but they'd obviously been chosen for a reason. He'd never thought of girls to be violent, but here was one girl, swinging a switchblade at him.

Her expression was totally calm. Her fiery red hair was like a lion's mane. Her green-gold eyes were distant and cold. The calm expression on her face was somewhat disturbing. It took Gordon a moment to recognize her.

It was Natalie Kaufmen, that girl in school who was good at practically everything. She had a slim figure and pale skin with freckles dotted across the bride of her nose. She was good at baseball, softball, soccer, violin and cooking. Of course, she could have been better at a lot more than that, for all Gordon knew.

Natalie twirled her switchblade and walked casually towards him. Gordon backed up a few feet. Natalie lunged suddenly, swiping her blade, cutting his left knee. He cried out in surprise, turning and backing farther away from her.

He held up his hands. "Look, I don't want to fight..."

She didn't allow him to finish, jabbing at him again. The blade cut the right side of his waist. He turned and backed up again. A few steps later, the brick wall of the warehouse was pressed against his back. With his hands still up in a surrender position, he swallowed hard and watched Natalie stalk towards him, his dark eyes big and wide with fear.

Natalie stopped in front of him and took out the toothpick she was chewing on. She studied it for a moment, then shoved it right into Gordon's left ear. He screamed, blood pouring out, his hearing in that side gone.

He fell to his hands and knees, his left hand over his bleeding ear. Tears were streaming down his face and he was choking on his sobs. Natalie stared down at him with her arms crossed, a cold expression on her face. _How pathetic._

She twirled her switchblade again and kneeled down in front of him, her left hand grasping his right shoulder. He looked up, a sniveling, tearful mess. She was disgusted by the sight. She wanted to see some more blood.

She cut off his nose and he screamed again, his hands flying to his face. He fell back against the brick wall of the warehouse, hitting his head. Natalie slashed his right eye and he screamed again.

_What did I... What did I do? Why is this happening to me?_

He reached out to grab her wrist, the one holding the blade, to stop her, but she only cut open his palm. He alternated between screaming and sobbing.

Natalie wasn't fully satisfied, but this boy was too noisy. She couldn't allow too much attention to drawn in her direction if she wanted to get revenge for her brother.

Natalie stabbed the switchblade, digging it right up under Gordon's ribs. He choked and sputtered as the life left his eye. Natalie watched him die, then pulled out her knife and slashed the knife in the air, splattering blood on the street.

She stared at his corpse for another moment before turning and walking back inside the warehouse.

* * *

Rodney McAffie (Male Student No. 9) had always been a funny, easy-going guy that everyone liked to be around. Since Math was his favorite subject, and he was really good at it, people often asked him to tutor them. With his curly red hair and unusual yellow-green eyes, he wasn't bad looking—girls often found him to be adorable.

Even though Rodney's mother died in a car accident, and his father disappeared when he was four, Rodney was still a happy-go-lucky guy. He lived with grandmother, who loved having him around. Since his grandfather had before he was born, his grandmother had been lonely until Rodney had come along.

Rodney loved taking care of his grandma. She was a joy to be around. They had so much fun together, shopping often and eating dinner in front of the T.V, watching game shows.

When Rodney woke up in that classroom, he didn't know what was going on, but he'd had a feeling of dread. He knew something was wrong and he thought of his grandmother, who was by herself at home, probably thinking he was still on his school trip.

When Rodney found out he was in the Program, he knew his grandmother must have been told and was internally panicking about what she must be thinking, what she must be doing.

He wanted to win, to get back to her, but he didn't want to hurt anybody. Sitting in a house, crouched under a kitchen table, Rodney hugged his knees and buried his face between them, murmuring prayers.

Maybe, if he could just wait it out... Let everyone kill each other and then... Could he really win that way? It seemed unlikely. Even if everyone managed to kill each other, there would at least be one other person. If they didn't find Rodney or Rodney didn't find them before the game was over, they'd both die anyway and Rodney would never get to return home.

But Rodney didn't have any other ideas. Killing was his only other option, but he didn't want to do that. He was too nice to kill. "You're such a nice boy," His grandmother had once told him, pinching his cheek and smiling. "You could never hurt a fly."

It was true. Rodney never even swatted at them with his hand when they were buzzing around. He never even killed a spider, or an ant. He knew they all had lives and they deserved to live just as much as anyone else.

In this situation, Rodney felt like a bug waiting to be squished. They were all bugs—just a colony of bugs smashing each other. If that were even possible.

Rodney cried into the knees of his jeans, unable to think straight. His weapon was a shotgun, but he refused to use it. He'd thrown the bag against the front door and left it there, unable to even look at it.

_This is sick. _He thought. _This is twisted. This is way too much for me!_ He sobbed heavily. _Grandma, Grandma, Grandma... You're okay, aren't you? Please be okay. Maybe... Maybe I can actually make it home. Wouldn't that be good? Could we really go back to normal?_

Rodney shook his head. _No, we couldn't. At least, I couldn't. I'd probably have nightmares every night. I'd still always be looking over my shoulder, like someone would pop out and kill me at any moment._

_Sigh. I would be paranoid and Grandma wouldn't be able to take care of herself. _Rodney clenched his fists tightly. _I hope she's okay. I hope someone is able to help her. You've got to call someone, Grandma, call a helper or something. Just in case I don't..._

Rodney shook his head again. This was no time for thinking negatively. If you didn't at least attempt to think positively in a situation like this, you would go insane.

And Rodney would _not _go insane.

* * *

Though Rodney was struggling not to go insane, someone else already had. She'd gone completely paranoid, clutching her weapon close to her, and running around the city in a fog of insanity.

She was Lexa Abernathy (Female Student No. 2), the sweet and shy girl who'd openly cried when she'd heard that they'd been chosen for the Program.

Lexa had grown up overprotected by her mother and father. Though she was often annoyed by her father's strict, watchful behavior, she was deeply upset when he was brutally murdered right in front of her. She didn't know who the murderer was and she didn't remember very much about the night it happened.

Her mother had herself and five-year-old Lexa in a closet with shutter doors. Lexa had witnessed the murder through the shutters, her mother crying into her daughter's blonde hair.

Lexa pushed this memory to the back of her mind as she ran through the city, her gun in her hand, her finger ready to pull the trigger at any moment. Lexa was a cute girl, considered to be one of the most adorable by most of her peers. She had shoulder-blade length, light blonde hair and navy blue eyes; and she always wore big, round glasses. She didn't like to consider contacts—she hated sticking her finger in her eye.

She was panting, exhausted, and her side was throbbing, but she refused to stop running. _They're all out to get me... They all want to kill me! _This only motivated her to run even faster. Her legs screamed out in protest, begging her to stop and rest. _No! I can't rest, don't you see? You stupid legs—just move!_

Yes, Lexa Abernathy had definitely gone crazy. Her level of paranoia had been dangerously high the moment she stepped out of that school. Lexa tried, over and over, to tell herself that it was a dream. She pinched, slapped, and scratched herself. But it did her no good—she didn't wake up because she wasn't dreaming. It wasn't a nightmare; she wasn't home in her bed, about to wake up screaming, but relieved.

Because it was reality. And Lexa couldn't handle that kind of terrifying reality.

Lexa stopped running when she saw someone, sitting against a brick wall. Her navy blue eyes went wide behind her glasses as they focused on the body of a boy with an extremely bloody face. His nose was gone, his right eye had been slashed, his left ear had a toothpick sticking out of it...

That's when Lexa noticed a girl standing in the building's doorway, staring right at her. There was a blade in her right hand, pointing in Lexa's direction.

Lexa's vision blurred slightly as fear overcame her. _That girl wants to kill me! She's going to kill me! _Lexa raised her gun and shot—twice. The girl moved swiftly out of the way of the bullets and ran at Lexa, who shot once more.

The bullet grazed the girl's right calf and she muttered out a swear word as she paused to check it, make sure it wasn't too serious. Lexa could have killed her right then, but she was shaking so bad that she couldn't aim the gun, so she turned and ran instead.

* * *

Natalie looked up and watched as Lexa Abernathy ran away from her. She didn't follow, however, because there was no point in chasing the girl down. Lexa was not Natalie's main target.

Natalie studied the graze on the side of her calf and sighed. It stung, but she could endure it. At least the girl hadn't actually shot her—that could have caused a problem.

Natalie put her switchblade in her pocket and walked back into the warehouse, gathering the last of her things. She cautiously slipped out the door, looking around to make sure no one was around. Then she headed in the direction she'd heard Ella Kiddman's screams earlier. Whoever had fought, and most likely killed, Ella could probably still be near there.

Natalie didn't know if it was Melissa or not, but since the girl liked torture, Natalie suspected it was her more than anyone else. Natalie knew she could have been wrong, but she didn't want to take the chance, just in case she was right.

Natalie had to find Melissa. She had to get revenge for her twin. Melissa had humiliated him. Natalie knew that a lot of others probably saw that. Her brother didn't go down the way he should have. But she was going to make sure Melissa did.

All that was on Natalie's mind now was Melissa. And vengeance for Kevin. She was going to make sure... Melissa was going to be tortured. Natalie's heart raced with excitement, thinking of all things she would do once she found the Harley girl.

Natalie was overcome with the thought of revenge. And the vengeful thoughts that ran through her mind were too disturbing to even mention here.

**15 students remaining.**


	19. Poisoned

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Andrew Overton (Male Student No. 14) was a protective, caring older brother. He would do anything for his nine-year-old sister, Elise Overton.

When Andrew heard that they had been chosen for the Program, his mind was racing with panicked and worried thoughts. Had Elise heard? If she did, how did she react? Was she going to be okay? She wasn't old enough to fully protect herself...

But he had to put all his faith in his parents—to hope that they would protect her as best as they could. If he didn't believe they would, he would have gone crazy.

Andrew felt a determination to get back to her. To Elise—to protect her always. His weapon happened to be a chainsaw (no wonder the bag was so heavy!). It was a strange weapon to him, one that had a good side and a bad side. It was a good weapon because it would kill easily. It was bad because it made a lot of noise, drawing more attention to him than he cared for.

Andrew hadn't run into anybody so far. He thought that as neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It wasn't a good thing because this meant it was taking longer for him to win and get home. If he could just run around the city and kill everybody quickly, he would.

It wasn't a bad thing because it meant he didn't actually have to fight anybody. At least, not yet. And that was good because he wanted to save his strength. He wanted to be the last one alive in that city. He wanted to win, so he could return to his nine-year-old sister.

Elise.

Just thinking about her got Andrew pumped. He had to win. He _had _to. Elise needed him. She needed his protection. She was only nine! How much could she really protect herself?

Andrew forced himself to stop thinking about her. He had to have faith that his parents would protect her while he was gone, while he was winning the game. From what Andrew heard on the noon announcement, not many people had died. But since it was nearly three o'clock, Andrew was sure more people had died since then.

If not many, or no one, had died, then Andrew would have to grab his weapon and make sure that the deaths increased. Because he had to go home, to make it back to her. To Elise.

_Damn it. _He was thinking about her again. He had to stop that, it was getting him sidetracked. And he couldn't afford to be distracted now.

Andrew had the chainsaw resting next to him, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He was in an apartment building, sitting against the front of a couch. Afternoon sun poured in through the window, splashing the floor with its light.

It seemed like such a cheerful detail, yet there was nothing cheerful about it. That sun was shining down on a city of death. Under its sunny rays, kids were dying. They were literally killing each other.

Andrew sighed quietly and closed his eyes, dropping his head forward. He was wasting time just sitting there—he had to get up and do something. But what could he do? He didn't know where to start if he was to look for a victim.

He liked the sound of that word. Victim. _Victim. _"Victim." He said it aloud, feeling the word in his mouth. "Victim. Victim."

Andrew, like Lexa Abernathy, might have been going insane. But it hadn't really happened yet. He wasn't as crazy as Lexa, yet he might have been crazy, on his own level.

Andrew was wasting time. But he didn't know where to start. So, he decided to wing it, picking up his chainsaw and his bag, and leaving that terrible, sunny room to find a victim.

* * *

Cherie and Owen Espen had found a one-story building a few hours after leaving the store they'd woken up in that morning. When they walked in, they saw it was an office. A desk, complete with a computer and a phone, sat several feet ahead of them. There were only three other rooms in the building. To their left had been what looked like a lounge, with a water cooler, a vending machine, and a soda machine; the room was furnished with two rectangular tables and a few chairs scattered about, some knocked over.

To the right of the lounge was another room—a bathroom. Feeling that they were in luck, Cherie and Owen happily chose the building as their current sanctuary. Owen managed to break into the vending machine and take some candy. The candy, luckily, was still good and Cherie and Owen ate a couple things of it before stopping. There was still plenty more, they had no need to go eating it all now and giving themselves a stomachache, as well as a sugar rush.

The water from the water cooler was also, luckily, still good. As if water could really go bad...

Well, Cherie didn't know if it could or not, but she knew the water in that cooler was perfectly safe to drink.

Or was it?

As soon as the twins took a few sips, they threw up blood and fell to the floor, their hearts stopping at the same time. Their small cups of cooler water splashed on the ground next to them.

The water had been poisoned and they hadn't noticed.

* * *

Daniel Grawson stepped out of the bathroom, peering around the door. His shark grin was wider than ever when he saw the two bodies lying on the floor of the lounge.

He'd poisoned the water with the bottle of poison he'd stolen from Karolina, just in case someone found the building. If they did, it would be an irresistible hiding place. Nice, cool water, candy and a bathroom... And, if soda couldn't go bad, then warm soda, too. Truly, it was a good place to hide out in this city.

Daniel, of course, considered staying there for a while himself. He decided it would be good, so he emptied out some bottles of soda and filled them up with some of the cooler water before dumping the poison in.

He thought himself to be a wonderfully sick-minded genius.

After killing Karolina Amadeo (Female Student No. 1), Daniel had wandered around the city, hunting for Nicholas Carsten (Male student No. 4). He hadn't found him, but he had found this little office building.

Daniel studied the bodies of the twins with his wide grin still stuck on his face. He checked their pulses just to be sure that they were dead. They were.

After that, he set their bags on one of the rectangular tables and searched through them. Owen Espen (Male Student No. 11)'s weapon was a broom handle. Daniel snorted and tossed it over his shoulder. He had no use for something like that.

When he saw Cherie Espen (Female Student No. 12)'s weapon, he was confused at first, then he figured out what it was and that shark grin grew wider than it had during the entire first several hours of the Program.

It was a tracking device.

**13 students remaining.**


	20. I'm Proud of You!

**Now that chapter 20 is finally finished, I'm going to take a quick break to think over how I want the next few chapters ago. Please be patient! (Though I'll probably finish the next couple chapters pretty fast.) ;)**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

It was nearly six.

After Adrian had passed out, Alexander, Melissa and Celeste dragged him to a tall hospital building that happened to be a couple blocks away.

They found the nearest room and set Adrian on the bed. While Celeste left to look for something they could use (Alexander went with her for protection), Melissa held Adrian up and pulled off his coat and shirt so they could take a better look at his wounds. She felt awkward about it, but she couldn't afford discomfort to get in the way now.

When she saw his back, she nearly fainted at the sight of all the blood. It wasn't really that bad, but she wasn't used to so much blood anywhere except on T.V. And the smell of the blood didn't help.

She lay him on his stomach then. She ripped off a strip of the sheet and disappeared into the bathroom, wetting it. Luckily, the water was still (barely) running. She doubted it would be okay to drink, but it was fine to wash Adrian's face with.

Melissa walked back into the room and slipped her hand under Adrian's left cheek, raising his face up slightly. She tenderly started to clean the blood from his face.

He opened his eyes suddenly, startling her. She jumped a little, her heart racing, but then she relaxed and went back to cleaning his face. Silently, he watched her, trying to remember what happened.

He'd been fighting Ella, hadn't he? So why was he now staring at Melissa Harley, who was dabbing gently at his face with a wet strip?

Finally, the memories returned. His fight with Ella. Ella's bloody corpse, Adrian's bloody dagger. Alexander showing up, looking surprised, alarmed, and relieved. Celeste Rodman (Female Student No. 11) and Melissa Harley (Female Student No. 6) standing behind him, frozen in shock at the scene in front of them.

Adrian, suddenly tired, reached up and grasped Melissa's wrist. She blinked in surprise. "That's okay," Adrian rasped, then sighed, turning so his face was buried in the pillow.

Melissa frowned as Adrian released her wrist. She went back into the bathroom and set the damp sheet on the edge of the sink. For a moment, she stared in horror at her reflection in the mirror.

Her mascara was waterproof, so it hadn't run down her face when she'd cried over Teresa, but her eyeliner was smudged all around her eyes. She used the non-bloody side of the damp sheet and washed off all her makeup.

When she returned to the room, Celeste was sitting on the bed with Adrian, who had sat up and had his bloody back to her. She was cleaning it with a wet washcloth, a roll of bandages on her lap. She was focusing fully on his wounds, as if she was a nurse.

Alexander stood by the window, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. Melissa stood in the doorway of the bathroom, wringing her hands, unsure of what to do with herself.

Alexander looked over at her then and raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

Adrian peeked over his shoulder to look at Melissa, who blushed slightly and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just...don't really know what to do."

Alexander shrugged and silently turned back to the window. Adrian continued to watch Melissa, who blushed furiously under his scrutiny and turned away, shifting on her feet.

Celeste bandaged up Adrian and smiled. "All done. You and Ella must have had some fight."

It was probably the most Melissa had heard Celeste say since she joined her and Alexander. Melissa tilted her head slightly, watching the two. Adrian chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah. It was...some fight." He sighed.

Celeste and Melissa frowned at the same time. "What's wrong?" Celeste asked.

"Nothing," Adrian waved off her concern. "I'm fine."

Celeste looked like she wanted to push it, so Alexander cut in. "It's about time. I've been looking for you, you know."

"Have you?" Adrian smirked a bit, looking over at Alexander. "What for?"

Alexander shrugged. "You're my friend. I figured we could use your help."

Adrian narrowed his eyes at that. "Help? What do you need my help for?"

Alexander rolled his eyes. "We want to escape. Isn't that kind of obvious?"

"No." Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to escape?"

Alexander looked surprised. "Because I want to get out of here alive?"

"The only way to do that," Adrian replied. "is to win. Weren't you listening to that Worden guy?"

Alexander was practically shocked. This didn't sound like the Adrian he knew. "What are you saying? You don't believe there's a way more than one of us can escape?"

Adrian sighed. "I wish I could believe that. But it just doesn't seem possible to escape from a place like this." Adrian reached into the bag next to the bed and pulled out his map, unfolding it. "See? This city is maze. And around the city is a forest that stretches on for awhile. Possibly miles."

Alexander walked over and stared over Adrian's shoulder at the map. His face was wiped clean of any expression. Adrian continued, "Even if you went into the forest, tried to escape that way, I bet Worden is tracking us. That way, he knows where we are." Adrian pointed to the collar around his neck, then back to the map. "And if we got far enough into the forest, all he'd have to do is send a signal to the collar...and boom. You're dead in no time." Adrian folded up the map.

Alexander continued to stare into the empty air, the wheels in his head spinning rapidly. Adrian looked at him. "I've already considered escape. But it's hopeless, so..."

"So you gave up."

Adrian nodded quietly. After a few moments of silence, he said, "Alright, I'll help you. We can try looking for an escape, but I'm telling you, it's hopeless."

Alexander's eyes were burning with determination. "I don't want to give up yet."

"Okay," Adrian said, sliding off the bed and facing the three. "Okay. Then let's give it a try."

* * *

But they had no idea where to start. They spent the next thirty minutes in silence, pacing around the hospital room, trying to think up an escape plan.

Then came the six o'clock announcement.

"Oh, how proud I have become!" Mr. Worden's cheerful voice was sickening to their ears. "Here are the list of the dead, in the order they died: Boy #13, Eli Friddman; Girl #15, Kandi Clark; Girl #5, Ophelia Angus; Girl #4, Jacqueline Ole; Boy #5, Brandy Boyette; Girl #14, Felicity Spaulding; Girl #1, Karolina Amadeo; Girl #13, Ella Kidman; Boy #7, Gordon Jabal; Girl #12, Cherie Espen; and Boy #11, Owen Espen."

Melissa, Alexander, Cherie and Adrian were in shock. That many had died? It wasn't even day two yet!

"I'm proud of you!" Mr. Worden continued. "That's eleven dead, and in such a short amount of time! You're getting better at this! Keep it up!" There was a pause, then, "Now, here are the list of danger buildings. I'm increasing the number, so pay attention."

* * *

"This is crazy." Celeste whispered, her eyes wide. She was trembling. _Kandi... Kandi is dead. It can't be. My...one of my best friends... _She felt the urge to bury her face in her hands and cry. _First Derek and now Kandi? No... This is crazy!_

Adrian pressed his lips together, grimacing at the ceiling. "You're right, this _is _crazy. We really have to get out of here." They marked the danger buildings, crossed off the names of the dead, and studied the names of those left living.

"Lexa Abernathy," Melissa murmured. "Alexander, of course. Celeste, Adrian, me..."

"Daniel Grawson is still alive." Alexander grit his teeth, saying the name as if it tasted bad in his mouth. Melissa could relate to his disgust.

"Nicholas Carsten." Melissa smiled in relief at the name. That goofy boy was still alive. Melissa loved how he was always able to make her laugh. She missed him deeply.

Celeste chewed on the eraser of her pencil. "Brett Jacobs is still alive. And so is Matthew Henshaw."

Brett Jacobs (Male Student No. 12) was a boy who was always picked on at school. He liked to keep to himself, having next to no friends. He was constantly picked on for his strange obsession with birds. Celeste considered him to be pretty cute, with his blonde hair and light green eyes. He had the slightly chubby face of a little boy.

Matthew Henshaw was one of the smartest boys in school, with a perfect 4.0 grade average—all As on his report card. But he was a pretty boring guy, with average looks and an average life. There was nothing real exciting about him. Celeste wondered why he'd been picking for the Program if there was really nothing special about him?

"Andrew Overton is alive," Melissa pointed out. "As well as Rodney McAffie."

"Natalie Kaufmen and Elena Milney are alive, too." Alexander said.

Celeste frowned. "There aren't many girls left..."

"That's neither a good thing nor a bad thing." Adrian said, tucking away the map and list of students. He lifted his bag over his shoulder and looked at the other three. "Let's get a move on. We're wasting time just sitting around here."

"Okay." Celeste murmured, packing up. Alexander nodded once in agreement, doing the same as Celeste. Melissa just studied Adrian for a moment before agreeing.

When they finished gathering their things, they took a few medical supplies (extra bandages, a couple washcloths, etc.) and left the hospital.

**13 students remaining.**


	21. Add Hatred to a Violent Temper

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Nicholas Carsten (Male Student No. 4) was walking aimlessly through the streets of the abandoned city. After listening to the six o'clock announcement, he concluded that there were 13 of them left: 8 boys and 5 girls.

Nicholas was relieved when he didn't hear Melissa's name in the announcement. _Good. Then she's still alive. Maybe I can find her. _Unfortunately, he didn't know where to look, so he just wandered around, hoping he'd run into her eventually.

He stopped suddenly, clutching the gun in his hand tighter. Daniel Grawson had just walked into a building across the street. Nicholas wondered whether he should go over there or not. Daniel was holding something, something that looked like...

Oh, no. What if that was a tracking device? Sure, he'd know where Nicholas was, but what if he'd gone in that building because someone else was in there? What if it...what if it was Melissa?

Nicholas ran as fast as he could to the building, throwing the door open and looking around. The room was completely empty, besides a chair, which Daniel was sitting in, smirking at him. "You're too predictable." He said, grinning.

Nicholas tightened his grip on the gun. He wanted to point it at Daniel, but it felt extra heavy in his hand from the fear he felt. Daniel was stronger than him, he knew it. Even with Nicholas holding a gun, Daniel could probably overpower him.

Daniel stood. Nicholas's hand fumbled for the doorknob. Daniel whipped something out of a pouch on his belt and threw it. The throwing knife embedded itself into Nicholas's hand.

Nicholas bit his tongue and pulled out the knife, dropping it. Daniel pulled out another one. "I believe," He said. "you have something that belongs to me." He threw the knife at Nicholas's hand again. He dropped the gun and pulled out the new knife, dropping it next to the other one.

"Kick it over here. Maybe I'll spare you."

"No you won't." Nicholas growled. He could tell Daniel was lying.

Daniel sighed. "Don't be difficult, Nicky. Kick it over here; you don't know what I'm gonna do."

"Yes," Nicholas mumbled. "I think I do."

"Kick it over here." Daniel repeated.

Nicholas lunged for it with his uninjured hand.

Daniel whipped out a sniper rifle and shot Nicholas in the middle of the forehead. His eyes widened as he started at Daniel. Then he closed his eyes, falling over.

Daniel set the sniper rifle down and walked over, picking up the gun. "You should have done what I said. Maybe I would have spared you." But Daniel knew he was lying. He'd never spare that comedic idiot.

He dragged Nicholas's body over to the wall and started to gather his things. He looked down at the screen of the tracking device just as Melissa burst into the room.

* * *

Melissa was walking with the other three in their group when she saw Nicholas run into a building just around the corner. His back was to them, so he didn't see her.

She took her time walking, suggesting to the group that they should head over there and see if Nick could join. Not too long after, she heard a gunshot and ran towards the building, the rest of the group stopping in confusion at her sudden burst of speed.

When she burst into the room, the first thing she saw was Daniel, standing a few feet away, holding something small in one hand, and a sniper rifle in the other.

He looked up from the thing in his right hand and smirked at her. "Melissa Harley. Nice to see you again, sexy." He winked at her. She felt her stomach twist with disgust.

"Don't do that," She snapped. "Or call me that. It makes me want to puke."

Daniel pouted, pretending to be hurt. "You probably saw Nicky come in here, didn't you?" Daniel grinned the grin of a shark. "Well, you're too late, sweetheart."

Melissa's eyes widened as they found the boy lying on the ground a few feet behind Daniel. She ran over to Nicholas's body and kneeled next to his head, staring at his face. A thin river of blood was leaking from the hole in his forehead.

Melissa felt tears welling in her eyes. "You...you..."

"That's right," Daniel said. He sounded amused. "I killed him." She heard the door to the building shut. "And now...I think it's your turn, sweetheart."

"Quit calling me that." Melissa whimpered.

"Sweetheart, sweetheart...sweetheart." There was a smile in his voice. "Are you ready to die, sweetheart? It'll only hurt, oh...a lot."

A throwing knife whizzed past Melissa's head, embedding itself into the wall in front of her. She stared at that knife for a long time. Daniel turned confused. "What? Aren't you going to try and fight back?" He sighed. "I don't want to kill you if you're going to make it easy."

Melissa slowly reached her hand forward and pulled the knife from the wall. "That's it," Daniel urged, another smile in his voice. "Now throw it at me. Come on, I dare you."

_I won't throw it. _Melissa thought as she gripped the throwing knife's handle. She stared at Nicholas's dead face. The boy that always made her laugh... The boy that always had a goofy grin on his face, despite the situation... The boy who would have done anything for her, though she didn't know it...

Nicholas was dead. But it was impossible! He couldn't be...

Melissa's skin was steaming. Her blood was boiling.

Slowly, she stood. She wasn't trembling, but was completely still. That was even more scary than her trembling. This was not the anger she felt when she killed Kevin Kaufmen. This...this was so much worse. This was so much stronger.

"Come on," Daniel said. "We don't got all day. Come and fight me, bitch!"

_What the hell...did he just call me? _Her knuckles turned white around the knife handle. _First, he kills Nicholas... And now he has the nerve...to call me a bitch?_

Melissa whirled around and pounced on Daniel. The sniper rifle went flying from his hand, as well as the device. She straddled him and clutched the knife handle with both hands, raising it above her head.

Her voice was extremely dark and filled with a hatred she'd never experienced. Not even towards her step-father. "You...you killed...you killed Nick..." Now she was starting to shake. "You..._bastard!_" She screeched the word as if it was the ugliest, dirtiest, sickest word in the world. She put all her ounce of hatred into that word.

Daniel raised his arms, about to push her off of him. She brought the knife down, stabbing it right between his eyes. His eyes went wide; his mouth opened, but no sound came out. She yanked out the knife, then stabbed again. And again. And again.

With each stab, she screamed. Tears were running down her face and blood was getting everywhere. It covered the blade, her hands, her hair, even her face...

He was long dead after the first couple of stabs, but she didn't stop. She continued stabbing and stabbing and stabbing; screaming and screaming and screaming.

Melissa yanked out the knife again. At first, she was prepared to stab. Then, she tossed the knife to the side, and went at his almost-unrecognizable face with her fists. She punched as many times as she could, as hard as she could. She was still screaming and crying when, finally, hands clasped her arms and gently pulled her away.

* * *

Alexander, Celeste, and Adrian watched her in horror. When Melissa had first run off, they had stood in the street in confusion for a moment. Sure, they'd heard the gunshot, but how was Melissa so sure that Nick had been the one who'd been shot?

When they heard her scream, _"Bastard!"_ they ran for the building. She was screaming like a madwoman before they got to the door. When they threw open the door and crowded the doorway, they saw why.

She was stabbing Daniel Grawson, over and over, in the face. After several stabs, she stopped and tossed the knife to the side. They thought she was finally done and had been about to say something, when she went at Daniel's ruined face with her fists.

After a few punches, Adrian had seen enough. He didn't like seeing her that way—it didn't seem like her. He walked over and wrapped his fingers around her wrists, gently tugging and pulling her away from Daniel's body. She was shaking so bad that Adrian became even more concerned.

Alexander was busy staring at Daniel's body with a sick, twisted feeling of satisfaction building up inside him. He even smirked a little.

Celeste was terrified. She turned and turned and ran to the side of the building, puking behind a bush. _She seemed like such a sweet girl... She was so nice to everyone! Could...could the rumors be true? Did she...did she beat up Kaelin?_

Celeste knew one thing was for sure: She was never going to be comfortable around Melissa Harley again.

Adrian led Melissa away from the building, sitting next to her on the sidewalk across the street. She hugged herself, starting to rock back and forth while whispering something inaudible.

Adrian just watched her silently. After a few moments, when she'd stopped whispering and closed her eyes, Adrian said, "Melissa, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." She croaked. "I just need to calm down for a minute..." Adrian waited. After Melissa had calmed down a bit, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking up at him. "I'm sorry...if I scared you and the others."

"It's okay." Adrian said quietly. He watched her. "You knew Nicholas pretty well, didn't you?"

Melissa nodded, more tears sliding down her cheeks. "He was one of my closest friends."

"Did you like him?"

The question surprised Melissa. She'd never really thought about that. Did she like Nicholas? The answer... "No. Not in that way. He was just...he was _Nick_."

Adrian nodded, looking away. He turned his eyes to the darkening sky. "We should find shelter soon. It's going to get dark and we're all tired."

Melissa nodded silently, swallowing hard. Her mind kept replaying what just happened. What she just did.

Adrian stood and turned to help Melissa to her feet. They walked back to the building to grab Alexander and Celeste before leaving to find a shelter for the night.

* * *

Elena watched the group of four leave before she sprinted into the building and grabbed the pouch of throwing knives from Daniel Grawson's belt.

Yes, Elena Milney (Female Student No. 3) had watched Melissa Harley stab Daniel Grawson in the face, over and over again. And she didn't stop there. She tossed the knife and started punching him.

Elena now knew that she couldn't face Melissa, not now, not ever. The school's beauty was too strong. She was too brutal. Whether she was provoked or not, she could still do those things...

Elena shuddered. If she had to fight her, she would. But if she didn't, then she wasn't going to. She was going to wait and let someone else kill her. Make it easier for Elena to win.

Elena considered taking Daniel's gun and sniper rifle, but decided it wasn't worth it. There wasn't much of a point. She already had a gun and adding two more was a bit too much.

She paused, considered, then decided to take the small gun and its bullets and magazine. Who knows, she may need it. But she wasn't about to carry that sniper rifle around.

She turned to leave when she noticed the device on the ground on the other side of Daniel's body. She stepped over him and picked it up, studying the screen.

_What's this? A...tracking device? _A slow, wicked smile formed on her face.

_Perfect._

**11 students remaining.**


	22. Don't Get Too Attached

**I hope nobody minds, but for the next couple of chapters, I added some much-needed romance!**

**Enjoy!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

They found a good place to stay about an hour and a half later (making it a little after 7:30). It was a nice enough house, fully furnished, with working water in the sinks and shower. There was one bathroom and three bedrooms; a kitchen, a dining room and a living room.

"I'm going to take a shower." Melissa said in a shaky voice. She dragged her blood-covered self to the bathroom and closed the door with a soft _click_.

For a moment, the other three just stood in the living room, frozen, not really knowing what to do. Finally, Adrian asked, "Is anyone hungry?"

Alexander raised an eyebrow at him. "Can you cook?"

"No."

"I can," Celeste said in a quiet voice. She hadn't spoken since they'd found Melissa at the house, stabbing Daniel Grawson (Male Student No. 3) in the face. "I'll go see if there's anything in the kitchen that hasn't gone bad." With that, she disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the two boys in the living room.

Adrian sighed and looked over at Alexander. "Go look through the closets in the bedrooms—see if there's something clean Melissa can wear, since she covered her clothes in blood."

Alexander pressed his lips together and nodded, walking down the hall. He looked through the closets in each room. He didn't know Melissa's size, but the second room had clothes that looked about her size. A girl about her age must have been living there.

Alexander grabbed the clothes from the dresser that was in the room (a light pink tank top with little flowers all over it and blue jeans) and walked to the bathroom, opening the door and walking right in.

Melissa yelped, poking her head out of the shower curtain.

"Calm down," Alexander said, setting the clothes on the closed toilet lid and turning towards the mirror, his back to her. "It's just me. I found some clothes in one of the rooms for you."

"Oh," Melissa was blushing. He could see her silhouette behind the curtain. Her head disappeared back into the shower. "Thanks." Her voice quiet; she sounded shy.

Alexander didn't leave, just stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection. Melissa washed the conditioner from her hair and poked her head out from the curtain again, blinking at him. "Um...was there something else?"

"No." He didn't move.

Melissa blinked again. "Um...okay. Then, could you..."

"Did you like him?"

"What?" She blinked in surprise.

"Nicholas Carsten. Did you like him?"

"Well, in a way, I guess..." She shook her head. "But not in _that _way. He was just...he was a close friend, that's all."

Alexander was silent for a moment. Melissa watched him with curious eyes. "So, Ninja Girl..." He drummed his fingers against the edge of the sink. "The rumors were true."

"What rumors?" Melissa continued to watch him.

"About your temper. About it being _that bad_."

"Oh," Melissa disappeared behind the shower curtain again. He saw her silhouette shrug. "Yeah, so what if it is, Bow Boy? What are you gonna do?"

"Nothin'," Alexander smiled. "To be honest, I was always curious about those rumors. From a distance, you seemed so sweet and kind, that they couldn't possibly be true. But I never just dismissed the rumors."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't tell everything about a person from just watching them from a distance." Alexander had never found himself interested in Melissa at school. Sure, she seemed like a kind-hearted beauty. But he didn't know her very well and, because of her social status at school, figured she wouldn't even bother talking back to him if he tried to talk to her. Not that he'd really cared. But that didn't mean he didn't watch her sometimes, which he did. Only out of curiosity.

Now, as Alexander stood there talking to her, he felt something strange starting inside him. Was he starting to..._like _her? He didn't mind as much as he thought he might. After all, she was a beautiful, sweet girl. She may have had a dark side, but it just made Alexander like her even more.

Suddenly, he found himself wanting to know more about her. "Hey," He said.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

Melissa was quiet for a moment. "No," She admitted. "I'm an only child. Do you?"

"Yeah," Alexander replied. "I have a little brother."

Melissa smiled, poking her head out from behind the curtain again. "Really? How old is he?"

Alexander turned his head and smiled back at her. Then he turned back to the mirror. "Eight."

"That's so cute!" Melissa gushed. She giggled, disappearing behind the curtain again.

Alexander smiled, feeling his cheeks warm slightly. He almost slapped himself. _What's the matter with you? Why are you suddenly getting interested in her? _He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit.

"Um..." Melissa hesitated. "I-I'm going to come out now."

Alexander closed his eyes. "Okay." She didn't move. Alexander smiled, chuckling. "I'm not looking. My eyes are closed."

"You promise?"

"Promise."

She seemed like a little girl at times. Alexander found it was adorable and he was starting to like her more and more. But he had to remind himself that he couldn't afford to become attached to anybody right now. If it turned out they couldn't escape...

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. Melissa slid back the curtains and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. "Okay," She said. "You can look now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," She giggled. "I'm covered."

"Awww." He joked, grinning as he opened his eyes and turned around. Yes, the most important parts were covered, but he could _not _ignore those long, flawless legs.

Melissa caught him staring and blushed again, turning away. "So, um..." She didn't know what to say exactly. She didn't know what to do either. What do you do/say when you're standing, almost naked, in a bathroom with a boy?

Melissa thought about her plan. About how she would pick one person she thought deserved to win and protect them until the end... Then, when they were the only two left... She'd finally get to escape.

Melissa smiled and turned back to Alexander. "Hey," She said softly. Alexander looked at her patiently, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you."

Alexander was puzzled. "For what?"

"For saving me." She grinned at him.

Alexander was still confused, but, nonetheless, he managed a smile back and said, "You're welcome?"

Melissa laughed.

* * *

After Alexander left the bathroom, Melissa dried herself off and got dressed in the clothes he'd left for her. They fit perfectly. Luckily, her underwear hadn't gotten any blood on them and they were clean enough to wear, so she put those on first.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Adrian was half-asleep in a chair in the living room. Alexander was no where to be seen and there was a nice aroma wafting in from the kitchen.

Melissa followed the scent and found that Celeste was whipping up some pasta. Melissa blinked in surprise. "Where did you find that food?"

Celeste started, looking over at Melissa in surprise. Her eyes widened slightly and she turned away quickly, focusing on the food. "Well, nothing had gone bad yet, so I thought..." She shook her head. "Are...are you hungry?"

Melissa's stomach chose that moment to growl and Melissa blushed, averting her eyes. "Sure sounds like it, doesn't it?"

Celeste smiled nervously. "Well, I'll call everyone into the dining room once it's done, so..."

"Have you seen Alexander?"

Celeste glanced over at her. "Um, yeah. He should be in one of the bedrooms. I think he said he was going to lay down for awhile."

"Oh." Melissa left the kitchen, walking down the hall. She peeked into the first room and found Alexander was lying on the bed, his back to her. The moonlight made his pale skin glow; he was shirtless.

Melissa tapped the door frame. "Are you asleep?"

Alexander looked over his shoulder. "No. Come on in." He turned back to the window. A few seconds later, he felt the other side of the bed sink in a little with Melissa's weight. Alexander waited a few seconds. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Melissa replied. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Okay," Alexander said. "About what?"

"Nothing in particular." She was quiet for a minute. "Do you like anyone, Alexander?"

Alexander considered the question. _Did _he like anyone? Sure, he thought some girls were cute, but he was never really good at talking to them. After all, he was one of the school's loners. He didn't really talk to anyone—mainly kept to himself. So he'd never really had a crush on a girl.

He realized: he'd never had a crush on a girl _until now_.

"Yeah, I like someone." He replied.

"Really?" Melissa smiled a little. "Who is it?"

Alexander smirked. "It's a secret."

"Oh, come on!"

Alexander laughed. "No way. I'm not telling."

"Will you tell me if I guess?"

Alexander suppressed a smile. "Probably not."

"Come oooon! Why not?"

"I told you," He replied, amused. "It's a secret."

Melissa pouted. "That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Alexander turned to look at her. She looked cute when she was pouting—it drew his eyes to her lips. Which looked so...kissable...

He immediately turned away from her again. Melissa blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?"

_Thank God for Celeste:_ "It's ready!"

"Oh," Melissa looked towards the door. "Sounds like it's time to eat." She slid off the bed and looked back at Alexander, who still lay on the bed. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah," He replied. "I'll be there in a minute."

Melissa nodded, still puzzled, and left the room. Alexander heaved out a heavy breath. _Why do I like her all of a sudden? What'd she do—put some kind of spell of me? _He laughed quietly to himself. _Yeah, right. Now I'm starting to go crazy._

**11 students remaining.**


	23. Do You Like Anyone?

**I don't know about any of you, but I needed a little romance break... don't worry! We're back to the killing next chapter! So if you don't like romance, just endure it for now. It doesn't last very long.**

**Copyright: I don't own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

They sat in silence around the dining room table, struggling to force the food down. Celeste was a good cook, but with the situation and all that the four had witnessed, it was hard to eat. But they managed to finish, eating until there was none left.

After that, they sat back in their chairs, silent for a while. Then Adrian spoke up, "There are three rooms. Alexander and I can each have our own room and you girls can sleep in the same bed, can't you?"

Celeste's face paled slightly. Melissa frowned at that, but then smiled and nodded. "Sure we can. Can't we, Celeste?" She looked at Celeste hopefully. She liked Celeste, she didn't want her to be afraid of Melissa.

Celeste trembled a bit and her smile was forced. "S-sure we can. Of course. No problem."  
Adrian didn't notice Celeste's fear as he stood from the table and started to leave the room. "Great. Then, goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight." The other three returned in unison. They watched him leave before filing out themselves. Alexander disappeared into the bedroom opposite Adrian's, leaving Celeste and Melissa with the bedroom at the end of the hall.

Celeste lay next to the wall, snuggling up close to it, distancing herself as far from Melissa as possible. Melissa frowned, feeling terrible. Why did she have to go insane and stab Daniel in the face so many times? Why couldn't she just shoot him? It would have made for a less terrifying scene and Celeste wouldn't hate her right now.

After a few minutes, Melissa could feel Celeste shaking. She sighed and threw back the covers, standing up. Celeste yelped, turning to look at her with wide eyes. "Don't kill me..." She whispered.

Melissa couldn't help feeling a little annoyed. Celeste was just being ridiculous now. She hid her annoyance, smiling sadly. "I'm not. I know you're uncomfortable, so I'll just go sleep somewhere else." She left the room, prepared to head for the living room, but stopped in front of Alexander's doorway.

He was lying in the same position as he was earlier, his back to her. Melissa rubbed her arm, her voice soft. "Are you asleep?"

A few seconds of silence passed. Then, "No." Alexander turned around and sat up on his elbows, looking over at her. "Can't sleep?" He looked out the window, at the moon.

Melissa shook her head. "No. Um...Celeste is afraid of me."

Alexander's voice was quiet. "Yeah."

"Can I...sleep in here? With you?"

Alexander tensed slightly, but then relaxed with a sigh. _What's the harm, really? _"Sure." He slid over a bit, making room.

Melissa crawled under the covers next to him. For awhile, they both lay in silence, staring at the ceiling. Then Melissa said, "Still not going to tell me who you like?"

"Nope." Alexander grinned.

Melissa giggled. "You're so mean."

"Hey, now..."

They both laughed quietly. Then they were silent again, both of them still smiling. "Why do you want to know so bad?" Alexander asked suddenly.

Melissa shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just curious, I guess."

"Do _you _like anyone?"

Melissa grinned teasingly. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Come on, at least I answered that one."

Melissa laughed softly. "Okay, okay." She said. "Yes, I do."

"Really?" Alexander didn't bother asking who it was, knowing she wasn't going to tell him. But he couldn't help wondering. _She doesn't like me. She couldn't possibly like me. Why would she like me? She doesn't even really know me._

_Of course, I like her and I don't even really know her._

"What's your family like?" He asked quietly.

Melissa was silent for a long time. Had he asked the wrong thing? "I don't know how to explain it." Melissa answered. "My family's kind of...scrambled, I guess."

"Scrambled?"

"I don't know how else to say it." She smiled. Her smile was kind of sad, Alexander noticed. "I live with my mom and my step-dad." She said. "My step-dad, well...he's not very nice."

"What do you mean by that?" Alexander wondered if he'd regret asking that.

"I mean...he abuses us. Me and my mom. And he disrespects my mom's side of the family." She turned her head away from him. He caught the sight of tears brimming in her eyes. This upset him.

"Hey." To his, and her, surprise, he reached out and took her face in her hands, turning it back towards him. He wiped her tears away. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I'm sorry I asked."

Melissa shook her head. "No, it's okay. It's not a big deal, really." She smiled reassuringly.

They were silent again, but the silence wasn't as comfortable. Alexander hesitated, thinking of what to say. He had to distract her—he'd obviously made her bring up something she would've rather kept to herself. "Do you think we can escape from this?"

Melissa looked back at him. Now that he was much closer to her, he noticed the unusual color of her eyes. There was silver around the edge of her iris...and gold around the edge of her pupil...

"Well, I can't."

Melissa's answer both surprised and upset him. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want to go back to that." She whispered. "I don't think I would be able to handle it."

Alexander unexpectedly took her hand and stared into her unusual eyes. "What if you didn't have to?" He whispered back.

"What are you saying?" He could see the pink spreading in her pale cheeks. It was a beautiful sight.

"I'm saying that if we escape, we could all run away. The four of us. Friends forever, on the run." Alexander smiled. "Don't you think that sounds great?"

"But where would we run to?" Melissa's voice was devoid of hope or faith. "There's no where to go."

"Don't be so quick to say that." Alexander replied. "You don't know that. Maybe there is somewhere to go."

Melissa squeezed his hand. "I'm just not sure..."

"Okay," Alexander sighed. "That's fine." He smirked. "But don't be pissed when I prove it to you."

Melissa wrenched her hand away and laughed, smacking his bare chest. He grinned at her. She spread her fingers and stared at her hand on his chest, the blush in her cheeks starting to spread. "Um..."

Alexander shushed her. She looked up at him, a little surprised. He reached his hand up and covered hers. Her eyes darted to his lips, then back to his eyes and she smiled shyly. He smiled back and leaned in, closing his eyes and pressing his lips to hers.

Her lips were soft and warm. He loved the taste of her. They pulled back and stared at each other in surprise. Neither of them had expected that to happen.

Then Melissa smiled and murmured, "I know you like."

"Wasn't a very well-kept secret, was it?" He smiled back at her.

"It was," She said. "For awhile. But you let it slip."

"Well," Alexander closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. "So did you. I know who you like, too."

Melissa smiled and giggled. "I was going to tell you anyway."

He laughed. "Yeah, right."

"I was!"

"No, you weren't!"

"Okay, I was going to try to bribe you. I'd tell you if you would tell me." She giggled. "But it looks like I don't need to now."

"Yeah," Alexander agreed. "Looks that way."

**11 students remaining.**


	24. It's Not What You Think!

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

They were all awoken by the midnight announcements.

"Hello, kids," Mr. Worden said cheerfully. "Since six, there have only been two deaths: Boy #4, Nicholas Carsten and Boy #3, Daniel Grawson."

Alexander's arms were wrapped around Melissa. When she heard Nicholas's name, Alexander held her tighter. Melissa turned and shoved her face against his shoulder, pushing back tears.

"Now, there should only be eleven of you left. Good job so far! Keep it up! Okay, now here are the danger buildings..."

* * *

Around six thirty am, Melissa was lightly shaken awake. She peeled her eyes open and looked at Alexander. "We slept a little too long," He said, putting his shirt on. "The announcements ended thirty minutes ago. This place is going to be a danger building at seven."

"Oh..." Melissa sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Okay." She forced herself out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, grabbing her socks and sneakers, slipping her feet into them.

In the living room, all four of them held their bags, their weapons out just in case. "Everyone ready?" Adrian asked, gripping the handle of his dagger. The other three nodded silently. "Good. Then let's go." With that, the four of them headed outside.

* * *

"Hey, look over there," Melissa said, pointing down an alley. It was a little past eight o'clock and the four hadn't run into anybody so far. "Is that a forest?"

At the end of the alley, instead of a wall there were grass and several trees. Adrian and the other three stopped and looked in the direction Melissa was pointing. "Looks like it." He said, narrowing his eyes.

"You said this city was surrounded by a forest, didn't you?" Alexander looked at Adrian, who only nodded, eyes glued to the forest.

Then he turned away with a shrug and started walking again. "Come on, let's keep going."

"You don't think we could escape that way?" Melissa crossed her arms, staying rooted to the spot she stood.

Adrian paused, turning to look at her. "I thought I explained this. They're tracking us. They'll know what we're up to and kill us on the spot." He shook his head and turned away again. "Let's just keep walking."

"Where are we going anyway?" Celeste asked timidly.

Adrian yawned. "I don't know. Just keep walking."

"Shouldn't we be thinking of a way to escape?" Alexander asked.

"That'd be nice," Adrian replied. "If we had any ideas." He looked at Alexander. "Do you have any?"

"Well...no, but..."

"I just saw someone." They all turned back to Melissa, who still stared at the forest, her face paler than usual.

Alexander hurried over to her side. "What?"

"I just saw someone move over there!" She hissed, waving her hand at the forest.

Alexander put an arm around her. "I'm sure you were imagining it."

Celeste stared at Alexander's arm around Melissa's shoulder. Melissa shook her head. "No, I wasn't! I saw someone!"

"Let's go check it out," Adrian said. "Alexander, Celeste—stay here. Melissa, show me where you saw it."

Melissa nodded, walking down the alley with Adrian. They stepped into the grass, their steps turning cautious. They didn't know how far "too far" would be, so they took slow, cautious steps into the forest.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream and someone was running at them. She had a gun in her hand and a look of pure panic on her face. When she saw the two of them, she stopped, her eyes wide.

"Lexa?" It was then that Melissa recognized her as Lexa Abernathy. Melissa was surprised the small girl was still alive, with the way she was running around and screaming so recklessly.

Lexa screamed again. _"I won't let you kill me!"_ She shot the gun several times. The bullets tore into Adrian's body and he dropped too the grassy ground, dead in an instant.

Melissa's eyes widened and she looked from Adrian to Lexa and back again. Then, slowly, she pulled out her gun and aimed it at Lexa, firing twice. Lexa screamed and turned, running farther into the forest.

A few seconds later, there was a faint sound, like a small explosion, and the sound of blood raining down on the grass.

* * *

Alexander and Celeste burst through the trees. The first thing they was the gun in Melissa's hand. Then they noticed Adrian's body, pummeled with bullets.

Melissa looked up, her eyes widening. "It's...it's not what you think. I...I didn't..."

Celeste turned and stormed away. Alexander and Melissa followed. Melissa's expression was worried, as well as sad. "Celeste." Melissa struggled to catch up. "I swear, it wasn't my-" She reached for her arm.

Celeste jerked away, whirling around. She hugged herself, shrieking. _"Stay away from me!"_

Melissa pulled back, blinking in surprise and hurt. "Celeste, I-"

"Don't bother," Tears formed in Celeste's eyes. "Just get out of here, okay? I...I can't. I'm not comfortable around you anymore. I don't trust you."

Melissa frowned, looking down. "Okay," She whispered. Then, a little louder, "I understand."

"No, no, wait-" Alexander began. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation..." But even he was doubtful. Adrian had been shot and Melissa had a gun. It was only them out there...

...wasn't it?

"Don't worry, Alexander." Melissa offered a heartbroken smile. "It's okay. Celeste doesn't trust me. I understand—I do." She touched his arm and nodded once, turning away. "Protect her, Alexander. Okay? Protect Celeste." With that, she was gone.

* * *

Andrew Overton heard Lexa Abernathy's screams and followed them. When he got to where they'd stopped, he saw her body several feet away. She was missing her head and there was blood _everywhere_.

With a sigh, Andrew turned and walked back to the cabin he'd stopped at earlier. He paused and sighed, leaning against the side. A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he peered in through the window. He was just in that cabin and hadn't seen anyone. Did someone sneak in while he was gone? He hadn't been gone that long...

Andrew walked into the house, dragging his chainsaw along. He looked around. He sensed he wasn't alone, but he didn't see anyone. His eyes were then drawn to the round dining room table, with a long tablecloth.

He kneeled down and raised the tablecloth, peering under the table. His denim blue eyes met yellow-green ones. He grinned at Rodney McAffie. "Nice to see you again, buddy." Yes, Andrew and Rodney had been good friends.

Rodney smiled in relief, his eyes darting to Andrew's chainsaw. "H-hey, Drew... What's up?"

"Your death," Andrew turned on the chainsaw. "That's what's up."

Rodney's scream was cut off as Andrew cut his entire body in half. Blood went everywhere. Pieces of bone were scattered across the floor and bone was also poking out from the two halves of Rodney's body.

Andrew stood and wiped his face with the tablecloth. He was drenched. But he was also one step closer to Elise.

**8 students remaining.**


	25. Bird Boy

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Brett Jacobs (Male Student No. 12) was sitting in a tree, a bird perched on his finger. He smiled at it. "Hi," He said. "It's nice to meet you."

When Brett left the school, he had no idea what he was going to do. His weapon had been tweezers, which only disappointed him a little. He hadn't really been planning to play anyway, but a better weapon for protection would have been a lot better.

When Brett found the forest at the edge of the city, he was ecstatic. He loved the outdoors almost as much as he loved birds. Because the outdoors was where birds lived.

He'd been in this tree ever since. Occasionally, a bird would come by and he would talk to it. It would simply sit on a higher branch and listen to him, probably not understanding a word he said, but listening anyway.

Brett got teased at school for having this obsession with birds, but Brett didn't really see the problem with it. It wasn't a bad obsession—it wasn't like he trapped them and tried to keep them as pets. He just liked to collect feathers that had fallen off and he liked to watch them with his dad.

"Well, if it isn't bird boy." The sudden, loud voice caused the bird to fly off. Brett frowned, looking down to see a blood-covered Andrew. "Why don't you come down from that tree, Bird Boy?" He held a chainsaw in one hand. "Or I can just cut the tree down."

Brett also noticed that the chainsaw itself was covered in blood. Brett's eyes widened. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want the poor tree too suffer...

Brett climbed down from the tree. "Aw, good Bird Boy. Looking out for the tree, huh?" Andrew grinned. "I've been watching you for awhile. You haven't moved at all, have you?" Brett shook his head. "Why not?"

Brett was silent. "Oh, I see. So you're giving me the silent treatment?" Andrew shrugged his bloody shoulders. "What did I do to deserve that, Bird Boy?" Brett kept his mouth shut.

"Okay, okay," Andrew turned on the chainsaw, yelling over it now. "You refuse to talk? That's fine." He grinned. "I'll make you scream instead." He cut off Brett's hand.

Brett screamed, falling back against the tree. He clutched his wrist and stared, wide-eyed, at the bloody stump. Tears formed in his big, light green eyes.

Andrew felt a bit sick to his stomach, too. He didn't like killing or torturing...but he had to get back to Elise. He had to do what he had to do. "Okay, I can't do the whole torturing thing..." He moaned. "So I'll just end this." He readied the chainsaw.

Brett's head went flying off, blood squirting out from the stump. His head rolled down the hill and disappeared into the bushes. For a minute, Andrew just stood, watching the blood squirt out of the stump where Brett's head used to be.

But he stared a little too long. He heard footsteps behind him and whirled around—too late. The throwing knife lodged itself deep in his forehead and he fell to the ground, his chainsaw still running.

* * *

Elena Milney walked over, turning the chainsaw off before it attracted anyone else. Then she fought with the throwing knife, struggling to pull it out of Andrew's head.

_It's almost over. _Elena thought tiredly. _This fucking game is almost over... _She grinned. _And I'm going to win. I'm going to be the winner!_

She was sure of it. No one could beat her! She never lost! _Never_!

_And I'm not going to start now._

* * *

It was around ten o'clock when Matthew Henshaw (Male Student No. 10) finally decided to leave the building he was staying in. It was the hospital—the same one Adrian, Melissa, Celeste and Alexander had been at sometime the day before.

Matthew had had no idea they were there and they didn't know about him, either. He'd been staying in a room on the third floor, watching the city from the window. He hadn't really seen anyone and he'd been asleep when the group came in.

When he woke up, they were already gone and he'd missed the announcements. Which was disappointing, but he didn't care much. He was going to win because he was smart. And all he needed to do was avoid trouble.

As if to mock his smarts, the people in charge of the Program had given him a calculator as a weapon. When he saw it, he chucked it at the wall and it fell to pieces on to the floor. The pieces still lay there as he stretched out on the uncomfortable hospital bed, staring at the ceiling.

_What should I do? _He thought. _What if it comes down to me and someone else? What if they don't know I'm still here? Or they can't find me on time for the deadline and we both die on the third day? Sitting around doing nothing, waiting for everyone to kill each other...it's a waste of time, but it's not like I have a weapon._

He sighed, closing his eyes. He was half asleep, so he didn't hear the footsteps of someone walking into the room. The pillow from under his head was suddenly jerked out from under him and his eyes snapped open.

He didn't see his attacker, for the pillow was on his face before he could. He struggled, fighting the person, grabbing at their wrists and elbows. He gave up soon, grabbing the pillow and jerking at it, trying to pull it off his face, but the person was too strong.

Matthew was smart, but he wasn't smart enough. School smarts won't keep you alive in the Program.

**5 students remaining.**


	26. From Unusually Colored to Gray

**It's almost over! Waaah! As crazy as it may sound, I'm going to miss my characters...**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Natalie sat back as she listened to the noon announcement.

"It's noon now," Mr. Worden said cheerfully. "In all, there were six deaths: Boy #15, Adrian Lawrence; Girl #2, Lexa Abernathy; Boy #9, Rodney McAffie; Boy #12, Brett Jacobs; Boy #14, Andrew Overton; and Boy #10, Matthew Henshaw."

Mr. Worden laughed. "Now there's five of you! Only one boy! How do you feel about that, Mr. Dorral? You're the only guy left! Can you win for them?"

* * *

_No. _This was Alexander's thought at Mr. Worden's question. _I don't think I can. I'll never be able to win this. I don't want to win this._

He was sitting with Celeste against a tree in the forest. After a few hours of walking, they had decided to rest in the forest at the edge of the city and eat some of the bread they had left, drinking the remnants of their water.

"We're going to get thirsty." Celeste frowned.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal...we've still got one liter left."

"One liter's not enough." She sighed, turning away. She closed her eyes, tilting her face to the sky. The Program was really stressing her out. There were only five of them left. Alexander was the only boy.

Melissa Harley, Natalie Kaufmen, and Elena Milney were the others still alive. When Celeste heard Adrian's name on the announcement, she cringed, feeling tears well in her eyes. He'd been so helpful to them...

When she didn't hear Melissa's name, she wasn't sure what she felt. The girl made her uncomfortable, but Melissa didn't act like a bad person. In fact, Celeste was just starting to understand why Melissa killed Daniel so brutally. Nicholas and Melissa were so close and if Daniel had killed Nicholas...

But then there was Adrian. What was Melissa's excuse for killing him? He'd been _helping _them. If she didn't trust him, she could have just said so. She didn't have to lure him into the forest and shoot him! He didn't have to die...

Or did he? The game was almost over and they still hadn't come up with an escape plan. Would they all have died anyway, on the third day? Celeste didn't want to think about it. As she sat there, she couldn't help wondering what Melissa was doing now.

* * *

Melissa sat in the cafe she'd discovered on the first day at the island. She wasn't exactly sure what to do after being kicked out of Celeste and Alexander's group, so she just wandered back to where she'd started.

She sat at one of the tables and folded her arms on the surface, laying her head down. What was she supposed to do now? She still had to protect the person she thought to deserved to win. But she wasn't close enough...

Sensing a presence, she looked up, peering out the window of the cafe. Someone, a girl, was pouring something around the cafe. Then she stopped, tossed the container to the side, and pulled out a small box. There was a spark and Melissa knew that it had to be a match the girl had just lit.

The girl outside dropped the match onto the ground, where the liquid she poured must have been. Melissa's eyes widened as the building caught on fire.

* * *

Natalie had found the gasoline and the box of matches in the cabin where she found Rodney McAffie's split body. She ignored the body, not giving it anymore than a glance, as she grabbed the container of gasoline and the box of matches from the corner of the room.

Natalie had to wonder what the house's former occupant had needed gasoline and a box matches for, but she didn't dwell on it for long. There was no point, not when she wasn't going to get an answer.

After that, she found Melissa wandering the streets and discreetly followed her until she came to the cafe she'd been in at the start of the Program. As soon as Melissa's head was down, Natalie started pouring the gasoline around the edge of the building.

Before she'd finished, Melissa looked up and watched her. But Natalie was close now. She just had one more thing to do... She lit the match and looked up, meeting eyes with the school's beauty. Then she dropped the match and flames started up at her feet.

Melissa grabbed her bag and her gun and ran for the entrance. The cafe's window shattered as the flames reached the glass. The glass on the door shattered, causing Melissa to back away, her arms flying up to shield her face. The flames in front of her were too big. She turned and ran for the door that led to the flight of stairs, up to the room she'd been in when Teresa had come running down the street.

She opened the window and peered out. The flames hadn't reached that high yet and, below, in the middle of the street, she could see the firestarter watching her.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped. She landed on her left side and rolled over onto her back, coughing and gasping with the pain. The firestarter straddled her, staring down at her, a switchblade in her hands.

Melissa's eyes widened. It was Natalie Kaufmen (Female Student No. 8). Melissa coughed. "Natalie."

"You killed my brother." Natalie's words were low and harsh—dark and scary. Melissa winced as she recalled the torture she'd laid upon Kevin Kaufmen. He hadn't deserved that badly of a death, but Melissa had been angry.

"Y-yes," Melissa stammered. "I did and I'm sorry. But, I didn't-"

The switchblade dug into Melissa's right elbow and she screamed. "No apologies!" Natalie snapped. "You're just lying so I'll won't hurt you." She smirked coldly. "Speaking of hurting people...it was you that beat up Kaelin, wasn't it?"

"What?" Melissa's eyes widened in surprise. "No, I didn't-"

"Quit lying, you bitch!" Natalie pulled out the switchblade, then stabbed it into Melissa's right shoulder, causing her to scream again. "I know you did it." She growled. "Now, admit it!"

Melissa, tears streaming down her cheeks, looked to her right. Her gun lay just a few inches away. She reached for it. Just a little more...

She screamed as Natalie's switchblade came down and cut off Melissa's middle finger, ring finger, and pinky. Natalie watched her with cold, green-gold eyes. "Admit it! Admit you beat up Kaelin!"

"I didn't do it!" Melissa screeched.

Natalie raised the switchblade and dug it deep into Melissa's stomach. Melissa screamed again. "If you would admit it, you might save yourself the extra pain!"

"Okay, okay!" Melissa screeched, tears rolling down her face. A little blood leaked out from the corner of her mouth. "I did it! I beat up Kaelin! I followed her home after school one day...and kicked her ass!"

"Why? Because of that rumor? Didn't you trust your boyfriend?"

"I wanted to! But I...but I couldn't! It's too hard..." She moaned, a pain-filled expression on her pretty face.

Natalie stood, turned, and straddled her again. Except now she was facing Melissa's legs. "You're popular for these legs, too, aren't you? Because they're so long and sexy, everyone says. They make you so tall."

Natalie raised the knife and dug it deep into Melissa's right thigh. Melissa screamed. "I said you _might _save yourself the extra pain." Natalie said through gritted teeth. "I didn't say you _would_."

Natalie continued this torture, stabbing Melissa in the knees, the thighs, then turning and stabbing her stomach. She repeated the stabs over and over, even when the life left Melissa's body and her unusually colored eyes turned gray.

* * *

When Celeste and Alexander saw the smoke, they were only slightly concerned. Alexander hoped Melissa wasn't involved in that and that it was the other two girls still alive in the Program.

But then they heard Melissa's screams and dropped everything, running in that direction. Celeste held Adrian's dagger and Alexander carried his bow, the quiver of arrows on his back.

They ducked into the bushes when they saw the fire ahead of them, two figures out front. One of them was sitting on the other, stabbing it repeatedly. The screams had stopped a couple minutes before they got there.

Alexander's heart was filled with dread. Those had been Melissa's screams...that was probably Melissa's body...

"This is all my fault." Celeste whispered, her eyes wide. "I didn't want that to happen to her...I was just..." She shook her head. "So selfish...it was all my fault!" She ran out of the bushes, running right at the figure who was stabbing Melissa.

The figure looked up, grabbed something and stood, pointing the object at Celeste's running form. A shot rang out and Celeste fell to the ground. There was a bullet hole right between her eyes.

**3 students remaining.**


	27. Game Over

**3 students left! Who's going to win?**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Alexander was about to do something when he heard something to his left and turned. Elena Milney (Female Student No. 3) stood staring at him, a throwing knife in her hand. She smiled and threw it at him. He ducked, throwing himself into a bush a few feet behind him.

He was worried Elena would come after him, but she ignored him, turning to whoever was still standing in front of that raging fire.

* * *

Elena threw another throwing knife, this time, at Natalie. She knew it was Natalie, it was marked on the tracking device as her number, in pink to state that she was a girl.

Natalie, who hadn't seen the knife coming, was hit in the left eye. She fell back across Melissa's bloody legs and pulled the knife out. Now blood was pouring from her left eye socket and she could only see out of her right eye. With an angry growl, she sat up and shot the gun in Elena's direction.

Elena, weak from her toe wound and lack of enough sleep, was slow to dodge and two of the bullets managed to hit her. One tore through her throat while the other one hit her in the left upper arm.

She fell to the ground, blood squirting from her neck wound. It took her only a couple minutes to die.

* * *

Alexander pushed himself to his knees and crawled through the bushes, stopping behind one to peek out at the figure in front of the flames. It stood there, slightly off-balance. It didn't seem to notice him, probably didn't know he was even still alive.

He knew then who it had to be. Natalie Kaufmen (Female Student No. 8) was the last girl alive in the Program. And Alexander was the last boy. Only one of them could win.

Alexander had said he didn't want to win. But he recalled Melissa's words from just several hours ago... _"Thank you for saving me."_ He didn't know what she meant at the time. He still didn't know now.

But, maybe, if he lived...he could figure it out... He knew then that he wanted to live for her. That he had to win for her.

Alexander stood up and pulled an arrow out of his quiver, aiming it at Natalie, who noticed him then and raised Melissa's gun. A shot fired at the same time he released his arrow.

The arrow lodged itself into Natalie's stomach at the same time the bullet pierced Alexander in the right arm. Alexander clutched his arm as he watched Natalie fall back across Melissa's legs, the arrow sticking out of her stomach.

To make sure, Alexander walked over and checked the girl's pulse. She was dead. He took a deep breath, then turned and looked at Melissa's corpse. She had been stabbed in several places and three of the fingers on her right hand were missing. Her eyes were still open.

Alexander kneeled down next to her and smiled sadly as he reached over and gently closed her eyes. His voice was a whisper, "Goodbye, Melissa."

_You've finally escaped._

**GAME OVER. THE WINNER: Male Student No. 2, Alexander Dorral.**


	28. Epilogue: Surprises

**Oh, it's the Epilogue! It's over!**

**Copyright: I do not own Battle Royale. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Before Alexander returned to school, he was told to never tell anyone about his experience in the Program. He was to act as if everything was completely normal.

At school, kids didn't ask him about it. He was sure they'd seen the news, seen him on it, the winner of this year's Program. But they didn't say anything about it. Everything was back to normal.

No one wondered what had happened to the Kaufmen twins or the Espen twins or the school's beauty. They didn't have to wonder after seeing Alexander on the news. They knew that the others had also been in the Program and were dead now.

For awhile, Melissa's friends at school were obviously grieving. But, Alexander noticed, that Jason was not, the bastard. He seemed only a little upset, but the next day, he came to school with a big grin and his arm around Kaelin Penny. She seemed to be fully recovered from her injuries and as slutty as ever.

Seeing them together, so happy and, well, together, made Alexander sick. And a little jealous. But he was only jealous because he couldn't have what they had with who he wanted because who he wanted was dead.

Alexander sighed as he watched the two walk across the commons, disappearing into the cafeteria. _Life is really not fair._

* * *

A few years later, Alexander graduated from high school and met a lovely girl named Lily Greene at college. They liked each other almost instantly, laughing and talking on the phone for hours. Just a couple years later, the two married and had a daughter of their own.

* * *

Five years later, Alexander was dropping his daughter, Alyssa Dorral, off at school. "I'll see you after school, sweetheart." He said with a smile, kissing his daughter on the forehead.

Alyssa giggled. "Okay, Daddy."

"Alyssa!" A little girl's voice called and Alyssa turned. A little brunette girl, about her age, her hair in braids, was running towards her with a big smile on her face. She had green eyes with a gold ring around her pupils.

Alyssa grinned widely. "Hey, Blythe!" She turned her dad with a grin. "Daddy, this is Blythe. Blythe Harley."

Alexander's smile froze. His face paled. _It's a coincidence. It's just a coincidence... _"Nice to meet you, Blythe."

Blythe grinned shyly and looked away, blushing. "Thank you, nice to meet you, too." Then she turned to Alyssa. "Are you ready for class, Alyssa?"

"You bet!" Alyssa grinned at her friend, then turned to wave at her dad as she headed into the school. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, honey." He waved back, watching as the two girls disappeared into the school. _It was a coincidence, of course it was. Melissa's parents couldn't have had another kid..._

_Could they?_

* * *

Ten years later, there was a knock at the door. Alexander pushed himself up from his chair to answer it. Two soldiers stood in front of him, holding their rifles pointed at the sky.

Alexander squinted. "Can I help you?"

"We are just here to inform you," One of the soldiers said gruffly. "That your daughter has been chosen for this year's Program. She is on her way right now."

_Oh, shit._

* * *

**Uh-oh. That isn't good.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed America's Program! If you would like me to write a sequel (I'm thinking about it) then PM me or leave a review! Obviously, from the looks of the end of this story, there's room for a sequel, but I'm still wondering whether I should write it or not. So, feel free to give me your opinion!**

**I hope you enjoyed America's Program and thank you for reading!**


End file.
